Forty-five of L’Oréal’s youngest and most talented staff have joined over 1000 other young people from around the world at the 2018 One Young World Summit.
Held at the Hague this month, the three-day event was established in the UK in 2009 to bring together “the brightest young leaders from around the world” and empower them “to make lasting connections to create positive change”.
L’Oréal chief executive officer and counsellor for the Group’s 2011 One Young World program, Jean-Paul Agon, said Loreal’s delegation was chosen for “their desire to take action, to challenge the status quo, and to take the lead in driving change”.
The 18-30-year-olds have been drawn from every department in the Group (human resources, sales, marketing, digital, research & innovation, etc) and have committed themselves to leading internal transformation projects for at least one year after the meeting.
Agon said their mission is to play “a decisive role in accelerating the Group’s sustainability efforts.”
Loreal has sent more than 260 young leaders to the summit since 2012
Previous Loreal delegations have carried out humanitarian projects on their return.
For example, the Interngration program enabled 21 refugee students to spend six months as interns at L’Oréal. The refugees, who came from Syria, Sudan, Ivory Coast, Iran, Afghanistan, Rwanda and Tibet, were assigned to the IT, communications, finance and chemistry divisions within the Group.
According to One Young World Summit, delegates attending the summit graduate as One Young World ambassadors on the final day and join a network of young leaders who are creating positive change around the world.
After each Summit, the delegates, who are then known as One Young World Ambassadors, work on their own initiatives or lend the power of the One Young World network to those initiatives already in existence.
Of those in employment, many return to their companies and set about creating change from within, energising their corporate environment.
“Since 2010, initiatives led by the 9000 ambassadors have improved the daily lives of 17 million people around the world.”