From new ideas to inspiring stories, Montpellier Impact was created and launched just two years ago by Montpellier Métropole to encourage local businesses to get involved in their communities.
This portal provides them with ready-to-use solutions developed by local associations for residents of Montpellier's Priority Neighborhoods. To help make it easy for companies to choose the action or actions that best match their values and priorities, they are offered a choice of three themes: education, entrepreneurship, and employment and integration.
The portal, which is unique in France, has been a valuable resource since its creation. It is a useful tool for companies that want to improve their impact on the local community and, in doing so, enhance their employer brand. This is particularly relevant given that the vast majority of employees expect their companies to be increasingly committed to social, ethical, and environmental issues.
Currently, 40 initiatives are listed on Montpellier Impact and feedback from 19 companies is available. The portal, which has grown over the months, only features associations that are recognized locally. At the end of December 2025, there were 27 associations listed, all of which are known to the partners of the “Montpellier City Contract”, a socially-focused plan co-managed by the French government and Montpellier Métropole.
That is the case, for example, with Kaina TV. On March 6, 2025, eight young people participating in community service accompanied by this community-based web TV station from Montpellier located in the La Mosson neighborhood, were welcomed at V Studios in Vendargues.. The goal of the visit was to introduce them to careers in broadcasting. The participants left feeling energized, their heads filled with new ideas for their professional futures. “It's a springboard for them,” said Juliette Luzin, the production coordinator at France Télévisions who accompanied them.
The portal also provides other opportunities to learn about different occupations within companies. For example, Akté Services, founded by Samuel Hervé, gave two people the opportunity to benefit from placement through the Montpellier Community Center for Social Action (CCAS) and Face Hérault – Fondation Agir contre l’exclusion (Foundation for Action Against Exclusion).
Young people are unaware of so many promising careers, and those living in disadvantaged neighborhoods also desperately lack professional networks. This is why APEC, Coraline, and NQT, three associations working to promote access to employment for graduates from Montpellier's priority neighborhoods, decided on March 20, 2025, to help break down barriers by organizing Comedy Connect, an after-work event with a focus on humor.
Montpellier Impact also presents many other actions, including in-kind sponsorship initiatives, such as those from CARSAT and CPAM, which, as a result of their relocation, donated furniture to associations working with residents of priority neighborhoods.
Last but not least, it is important to note that all the initiatives presented on the portal are linked to other collective efforts that involve a wide range of institutional and community partners in the area. This includes, for example, members of the Mosson Integration Commission – notably France Travail, Face Hérault, and MLJ3M – which organized the “Champions League of Jobs event before the La Mosson Job Fair in order to help candidates from priority neighborhoods prepare for interviews using realistic and dynamic scenarios provided by companies.
