Logistics Partner of the Olympic Games, CMA CGM Undertakes Actions to Promote Access to Sports and the Sea through Its Foundation. Meeting with its President, Tanya Saadé Zeenny.
On July 18, the CMA CGM Foundation signed a partnership with Le Grand Bleu at the Corbières nautical base, in the north of Marseille (16th district), to support their efforts in promoting swimming lessons and access to water activities.
Tanya Saadé Zeenny, president of the foundation since 2018, visited the site to commend the association’s work over the past 25 years. She clearly affirms the educational vocation that the CMA CGM Foundation must embody, particularly through sports and its values.
As the logistics partner for the 2024 Olympic Games, the Marseille-based maritime transport and logistics company, the third-largest shipping company worldwide, aims to leverage the sailing and football events to leave a lasting impact on the lives of residents.
Made in Marseille: We are at the Corbières nautical base, where the association Le Grand Bleu has been working for 25 years. Why did the CMA CGM Foundation choose to support them now?
Tanya Saadé Zeenny: The CMA CGM group is the logistics partner for the 2024 Olympic Games. But we wanted to go much further to leave a legacy in Marseille, a city to which we are very attached. Here, 60% of children under 12 years old do not know how to swim. Some young people have almost never been to the sea in their lives, even though they live just a few kilometers or even meters away. It is therefore very important to enable them to participate in a sport or a water activity. This has always been a concern for us.
Do you think Marseille still turns its back too much on the sea?
We’re never turned towards the sea enough. You can never turn your back on the sea enough. The Foundation set up the “Discovering the Sea” program in Frioul for 800 children and young people from social centers in Marseille, in conjunction with the Fédération Léo Lagrange Méditerranée. For the past four years, we have also supported the Marseille Capitale de la Mer association’s “Un pas vers la mer” program, which teaches 150 children to swim each year.
What is the role of the CMA CGM Foundation today?
The foundation has two main focuses: humanitarian aid and education. Humanitarian aid is the specificity of our foundation, which uses and mobilizes all CMA CGM’s industrial tools – its aircraft, ships and containers – to respond to needs. For example, we have set up the excellent “Containers of Hope” program to send medicines to Africa.
In education, we build schools. We’re also training 1,300 school dropouts in our “innovative schools” in Marseille to enable them to be trained in the trades of the future. Like Acta Vista in heritage restoration, or Kourtrajmé in the film industry. In fact, we’re going to rename our 11 schools “formations d’avenir”.
You took over from your mother in 2018. What is Tanya Saadé’s “touch”?
My mother set up the foundation in 2005 to carry out disability and humanitarian projects. I was vice-president alongside her. When I took over the foundation in 2018, I added the pillar of education, because it’s an exceptional lever for social cohesion. The foundation is part of our DNA as a family business with very strong values.
Such as sport?
Believe me, sport is education. It conveys values of commitment, cohesion, precision, excellence and team spirit. It’s also a public health issue in the fight against sedentary lifestyles.
You are particularly active in the north of the city. Are you making up for the lack of public facilities in this area?
When you’re out in the field, you can feel the need. I realized that these centers needed sports fields. We worked with Olympique de Marseille to renovate three city stadiums in the north (2nd, 3rd and 13th). But we’ve also just inaugurated the Reynarde pitch near Valentine, in the eastern part of the city (11th). Our strength lies in our ability to rely on solid structures in conjunction with the State and local authorities.
Could the new composition of the National Assembly and the political uncertainties have any impact on the day-to-day running of your foundation?
In what way? You know, we’re here to stay, to carry out long-term actions. We’ve proved that since 2005. Let me remind you that CMA CGM went through a difficult period in 2009, and the foundation has always been there. It’s a reflection of our family business and who we are. We want to be useful to others. Rodolphe Saadé, who heads the company, is also very involved. He’s the one who pushes us to strengthen our actions.
What is the real link between CMA CGM and the foundation, beyond financing?
The foundation uses and mobilizes our logistics resources. But it goes even further by making the Group’s expertise available. In the case of La Reynarde, we called on our architects to help design the site. The same goes for our social incubator “Le Phare”, where entrepreneurs can call on CMA CGM’s financial and sales experts. Le Phare, currently housed at Zebox, will be moving to the Grand Central in Colbert (1st), as will the media center (including La Provence, editor’s note).
You too seem to be working in start-up mode. No ?
That’s what CMA CGM is all about. It’s a very large group that has retained its start-up spirit and family values. Our foundation is unlike any other. We seek. We try to innovate. A major social innovation project that’s close to my heart is about to be finalized to help associations with food insecurity. It’s going to be revolutionary for Marseille! But I can’t say anything yet. I’ll certainly be talking about it this autumn.
Source: Made In Marseille
