Founded in 2009, the Jean-François and Marie-Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre Foundation aims to facilitate access to education (particularly for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds), as well as stimulate creation, whether artistic or scientific, to be disseminated to as many people as possible. The Foundation encourages initiatives stemming from understanding, creation and invention. The endeavor was inspired by François de Clermont-Tonnerre—Jean-François's grand-father—who, in the 1960s, co-founded with Professor Maurice Marois the Institut de la vie (Institute of Life), which aimed to bridge ethics and knowledge with the demands of life.The Foundation is exclusively financed by the personal resources of its founders, which gives it complete freedom; it carries out its humanist and civic responsibility through well-documented, thoughtful choices it stands by.The Foundation supports around fifteen projects, all operating in innovative fields, be they of an artistic, environmental or scientific nature: each holds meaning. Always active within the sphere of education, the Foundation also allocates several scholarships to students in the sciences, in economics and in the arts.