Accompanying young people towards success – C’Possible !

The C’Possible association works to prevent young people dropping out of school. With backing for development from the Michelin Foundation, it is gradually extending its activity to the whole country.

Every year, nearly 100,000 young people leave the education system without any form of qualification. The reasons differ and may lie in family, social or personal difficulties. This edifying discovery led François Vachey to set up the C’Possible association in 2008. It is a not-for-profit organization under the law of 1901 and is recognized by France’s Ministry of Education. Its stated objective is to incorporate school students, often from underprivileged backgrounds, into job training programs in vocational and technical high schools and help them build their futures.

C’Possible works from two interrelated approaches: mentoring, in which students receive long-term guidance in mapping out their career paths, and school workshops to familiarize students with business life and instill into them social and cultural values to help them make sense of the wider world.

With a network of around 100 partner high schools and over 300 volunteers with expertise in areas like business management, law and culture, the association operates in four regions, Ile-de-France, Hauts-de-France, Pays de la Loire and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and has already reached out to close on 50,000 young people. It aims to extend its local coverage and pursue educational innovation under the impetus of its new director Philippe Varin, a business leader who has managed some of France’s top CAC-40 listed companies and who is a fervent advocate for creating closer ties between school and work.