"I want to change the system. Not make up for its defects."

Tara Heuzé, a student on the Sciences Po-Columbia dual Master's programme, launched an initiative to collect sanitary products for homeless women. The operation, dubbed "Règles élémentaires", helped raise awareness well beyond Sciences Po. Interview with a student who wants use the weapons of finance to change the world.

Where did you get the idea to organize a collection of sanitary products for homeless women?

Tara Heuzé: Before I started the dual degree programme, I took a gap year to do a Master of Finance at Cambridge. I became aware of the problem during a campaign organised by students at Cambridge. When I got back to France I maintained an interest in the matter. People are mobilising for this cause around the world, but there's nothing happening in France. There's a kind of denial with regard to this issue.

How did you decide to take action?

T. H.: We decided to launch our collection of sanitary products shortly before the national food bank collection. With support from the Sciences Po association Paris Solidaires, we asked people to come and drop off their donations or send them directly to the Samu Social de Paris, the humanitarian emergency service. The response was extraordinary: 25,000 products were collected, and then 20,000 more in the second collection launched on 8 March. It's great, but remains largely inadequate. With tens of thousands of women in the street, it doesn't even cover needs for a month.

Are you going to continue this action?

T. H.: We have just completed the formalities to form an association so we can perpetuate the initiative. Some Parisian shopkeepers have set up donation boxes so the collection can be extended over the long term. The aim now is to continue to widen the scope of the initiative and create partnerships in other higher education institutions. For the 8 March, we expanded the collection to other schools in Paris, such as ESCP and the Ecole du Louvre. We also want to establish partnerships with businesses, supermarkets, etc.

What has all this changed for you? Would you like to continue with this type of engagement professionally?

T. H.: I have always wanted to have a long-term impact with my career, and a short-term impact through my engagements as a citizen. In that sense, nothing has changed for me; I am not planning a career in the non-profit sector. That just makes up for the system's defects whereas I would like to work to change the system.

What are your plans?

T. H.: Like many students, when I first wanted to go to Sciences Po I had a career in politics and public administration in mind. But in the meantime, my first presidential election as a voter in 2012 came as a huge disappointment. I became aware of the powerlessness and inability to act of many politicians. In parallel, I got to attend excellent lectures at Sciences Po, including one by the director of a large investment bank, which made me realise that finance was an important lever to literally give revolutionary ideas the means to exist. So I chose to study at Cambridge, then to do this dual degree in finance and economic policy with Columbia, because I want to work for a green tech investment fund, and maybe even start my own one day. I am firmly convinced that you have to change the system from within, and green finance is an effective pathway towards sustainable development and a fairer world.

More information

www.regleselementaires.com
www.facebook.com/regleselementaires