Estée Lauder has launched an inaugural series of grants to promote women’s leadership.
The new initiative has been set up to deepen the beauty brand’s investment in supporting emerging women leaders globally.
To launch the Emerging Leaders Beautiful Forces grants, Estée Lauder partnered with the Estée Lauder Emerging Leaders Fund (ELELF) and grantee, as well as Vital Voices Global Partnership, a non-profit investing in women leaders.
The grants support Vital Voices network alumni, which includes NGOs and businesses, as well as projects that advance bold ideas.
According to the New York-based brand, an initial award of US$200,000 will be split between four recipients who demonstrate innovative thinking, a desire to challenge the status quo and the ability to take calculated risks to solve a problem impacting their communities.
This year’s awardees include Canada’s Amina Mohamed, the founder of Cameras for Girls, an organisation that equips girls in Africa with cameras to challenge gender disparities in media.
As well as Consuelo Hermosilla González, Chile, who founded Fundación Antonia, which works to eliminate intimate partner violence by providing free care and support to survivors in Chile.
Olasumbo Adeleke from Nigeria, Executive Director of Gender Power Africa, was awarded to support her efforts at improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, especially women and youth, in rural communities in Nigeria.
The final recipient, Brazil’s Renata Koch Alvarenga, founder of EmpoderaClima, was chosen for the youth-led organisation which raises awareness about the impacts of climate change on women.
“With the launch of the Beautiful Forces grants, we are doubling down on our commitment to change the face of leadership by further investing in a new generation of emerging leaders,” said Stéphane de La Faverie, ELELF’s founder and Executive Group President at The Estée Lauder Companies.
“We are proud to support these inspiring women from around the world, helping them achieve their goals and take their ideas to the next level to create further impact in their communities and beyond.”
Vital Voices Global Partnership’s President and CEO Alyse Nelson added: “The Beautiful Forces grants will take our partnership with the Estée Lauder Emerging Leaders Fund to the next level, further investing in emerging women leaders who dream big and aim to conquer the enormous challenges we face today.
“Their vision for change is ambitious and we are thrilled to be able to support them in the next step of their leadership journeys.”
Recipients of the grants were honoured at a private celebration in New York, US, alongside the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly.
The ELELF launched in 2022.
It previously partnered with Vital Voices on the VV Visionaries Leadership Program, an online and offline development programme that to date has trained more than 400 women.
The fund has also supported women’s leadership organisations Black Girl Ventures and the Center for Asian Pacific American Women.
