The Fondation Guilé
The Fondation Guilé History
The history of the Burrus tobacco family dates back to 1814, when Martin Burrus set up his family business in Boncourt, Switzerland, where it would operate as a family enterprise for close to two centuries. In 1931, a fifth-generation descendant, Léon Burrus, and his wife Marguerite, known as “Guigui”, built their family home, imprinted with the Burrus family spirit, values and legacy, and named it GUILÉ, a combination of the couple's first names.
During their lifetimes, Guilé would become a meeting place for family, friends, industrialists, local elected officials, religious leaders, philanthropists, military officers and professors. At the same time, the family business F.J. Burrus & Cie was always innovative in the realm of social responsibility in Switzerland. For example, the company was the first in Switzerland to introduce family allowances and retirement funds.
In 1997, sixth-generation Charles and Nado Burrus decided to transform the Guilé family home into a foundation. After a difficult experience as an ecclesiastical foundation, Guilé found its true calling in promoting corporate responsibility guided by the ten principles of the UN Global Compact.
The Fondation Guilé and the Global Compact
The Fondation Guilé, which receives a significant portion of the Guilé Funds management fees, signed a Memorandum of understanding with the Global Compact office that gives it the role of catalyst in helping companies implement and report on the ten principles of the Global Compact.
The Fondation Guilé embraces the specific methodology of analysis and dialogue with companies ― the Guilé Funds "engagement" methodology developed over two years in New York.
“The Global Compact Office and the Guilé Foundation have agreed to collaborate to raise the level of awareness of, respect for, and the quality of implementation of, the ten principles of the UN Global Compact. A concrete element of this collaboration is the establishment by the Guilé Foundation of the Engagement Fund. It is the first investment fund dedicated to the United Nations Global Compact and its mission of advancing the ten universal principles for responsible business in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption.” Georg Kell, United Nations Global Compact Director