Hong Kong
East Harlem Students Share their Vision of Responsible Beauty with ELC Volunteers
Company Feature, Mar 22, 2018
The Young Women’s Leadership Schools are a network of all-girls public schools aimed at helping youth reach their learning and leadership potential
As a company with a commitment to nurturing young women in our communities, The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) has cultivated a longstanding relationship with The Young Women’s Leadership Schools (TYWLS) — a network of all-girls public schools aimed at helping at-risk youth reach their learning and leadership potential and attend college. As part of an ELC program with the organization, 85 12th graders studying at TYWLS of East Harlem participated in Project Beauty: The Beauty of Responsibility, an annual creative hands-on activity in which the students came up with a cause-related campaign for an imagined beauty brand.
After inspiring presentations by Aveda Ambassador and influencer behind Mo Knows Hair, Monica Stevens, and Vice President of the M·A·C AIDS Fund, Andrea Flynn, students worked in teams to create their campaigns. Their ideas were then presented to a panel of guest judges to decide on a winning team who was presented with a certificate.
The winning team came up with a fictitious beauty brand that creates face masks targeting acne scars, and embraces loving your own skin and self-acceptance. The team tied their product to raising awareness about domestic violence and included the number for the National Domestic Violence Hotline on their poster. They utilized the concept of scarring, both physical and emotional, to create a seamless connection between the product and their philanthropic cause. Furthermore, they crafted a meaningful hashtag, #freeyourscars, to reiterate their brand’s message.
As an ELC executive who has participated numerous times in Project Beauty workshops, Andrea Flynn reflected on her experience: “Our company’s partnership with the Student Leadership Network is an outstanding example of the impact that we can have when we work together to support girls education. As a first generation college graduate, it has meant a great deal to me to work for a company that places such a strong emphasis on supporting girls’ education and women’s leadership. The Project Beauty participants are a true inspiration, their passion for learning and leading is remarkable – these girls have the power to change the world!”
About the ELC x TYWLS Partnership
The Student Leadership Network (SLN) is an organization that operates The Young Women's Leadership Schools (TYWLS), a network of all-girls public schools, and CollegeBound Initiative (CBI), a co-ed college access program. The Estée Lauder Companies has an ongoing partnership with the organization’s all-girls schools, in conjunction with the Company’s Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability initiatives focusing on girls’ education.
"Our volunteer work at The Young Women’s Leadership School is an important element of our citizenship efforts and our Company's values to give back to the community and contribute to future generations,” said Phebe Farrow Port, SVP, Global Management Strategies, and Chief of Staff to the President and CEO, The Estée Lauder Companies. “TYWLS is a noble mission we are proud to support. Our relationship is a great example of 360 degree empowerment. Our volunteers receive even more than they give when spending time with these amazing young women."
Collaborative workshops held at TYWLS allows volunteers from The Estée Lauder Companies to share their insights about the beauty industry and the business world at large. These programs align with the schools’ mission to provide an ideal college-preparatory education and to empower young women to pursue personal successes in life. The Estée Lauder Companies has an internal board consisting of six employee volunteers who ideate, design and execute engaging programs that supports this mission. Last year, ELC hosted seven TYWLS events that reached 500 students — with more than 100 volunteers investing a total of over 390 volunteer hours.
