Forget one for all, I believe in all for all

Amélie Kanagasabai

Orange Graduate Programme, Deputy Manager at the Rouen Megastore

Providing equal opportunities isn’t just an issue for governments and a handful of private-sector organisations. It’s a focus for us all. I come from a Sri Lankan Tamil family and my parents fled the country during the civil war. My father died when I was young and my mother raised my brother, my sister and me by herself, getting by on just her income as a cashier. So, the odds weren’t stacked in my favour, to say the least. I was fortunate to be admitted to the Lycée d’État Jean Zay’s Internat de la Réussite student residence during the years I spent taking my literary preparatory classes in Paris, and to be mentored at Article 1, a non-profit organisation. Both those experiences were wonderfully fulfilling personally and academically.

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Now I feel it’s my turn to give back, which I’m doing in public- and private-sector organisations (Cordée de la Réussite and L’Envol). The government is putting in place a variety of initiatives to help people on the fringes of society succeed in school. There are also private-sector and non-profit entrepreneurship initiatives based on mentoring and other knowledge-sharing mechanisms involving civil society. To make equal opportunities a reality, we need to talk more about equality. We must lift the censorship we impose on ourselves and give young people the chance to grasp corporate culture and the way things are done. And that will only happen if everyone pulls together in the same direction. If we reach out further, talk more and learn more about the jobs of the future, we will help people with less standard experience to thrive. We will only make a real difference today if everyone’s on board. So jump on and share your experience!

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