E-mentors to inspire the next generation

Desjardins partners with Academos to promote e-mentoring for young people

Lévis (Québec), February 5, 2008 – To enable young people to converse by e-mail with experienced workers, Desjardins Group has entered into an agreement with Academos to promote e-mentoring for 14- to 30-year-olds. This connection will help young people better understand the working world, along with its pressures and joys.

Academos hopes that its relationship with Desjardins will give this initiative greater exposure and, by extension, provide new meaning to what young people learn, motivate them in school and provide them with a clearer vision when choosing a career.

In 2004, Desjardins launched its Youth Focus program in order to meet the expectations of young people and forge a relationship with them based on trust. Today, Desjardins is reaffirming its commitment to youth and enthusiastically offering the strength of its network as support. Desjardins employees, officers and members will be made aware of this e-mentoring project that will meet the needs of more and more young people. They will also be encouraged to get involved as volunteer e-mentors, and thus provide direct support to the next generation.

“Desjardins feels strongly about Québec’s youth. E-mentoring is a great opportunity for our cooperative financial institution to provide tangible support to young people who wish to be in contact with experienced workers,” stated Mr. Yvan Laurin, Vice-President of Cooperation and Quality at Desjardins.

About Desjardins Group

Desjardins Group is the largest integrated cooperative financial group in Canada, with overall assets of $147 billion, as at September 30, 2007. It comprises a network of caisses, credit unions and business centres in Québec and Ontario, and some twenty subsidiary companies in life and general insurance, securities brokerage, venture capital and asset management, many of which are active across the country. Drawing on the expertise of its 40,000 employees and the commitment of nearly 6,800 elected officers, Desjardins offers its 5.8 million individual and corporate members and clients a full range of financial products and services. Its physical distribution network is complemented by leading-edge virtual access methods.

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