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ELC Celebrates the International Day of the Girl
Company Feature, Oct 11, 2017
The Estée Lauder Companies joins the world in celebrating the International Day of the Girl this October 11.
This day shines an important and bright spotlight on girls across the globe and while we celebrate girls today, we believe that we need to support them each and every day. One of the ways in which we do that is through our Girls’ Education Initiative at The Estée Lauder Companies Charitable Foundation, also known as The ELC Foundation.
Launched in 2016, The ELC Foundation supports programs in 14 countries through grants to 11 non-profits focused on education, with a special focus on girls. We are especially proud that last year alone, in partnership with organizations around the world, we supported more than 30,000 students.
Educating a girl has a multiplying effect. As a growing body of research shows, more educated women tend to be healthier, participate more in the formal labor market, earn more income, and provide better health care and education to their own children. However as of 2013, an estimated 31 million girls of primary school age and 32 million girls of lower secondary school age remained out of school.
The Initiative funds organizations that utilize school-based and after-school programs that incorporate health, life skills and self-esteem building into every educational moment.
We are honored to partner with so many incredible organizations that do day-to-day work to increase access to quality education and improve the lives of adolescent girls, and by extension their families.
On this day, we wanted to highlight the inspiring work of a few of these partners:
- She’s the First is a global program that supports girls who will become the first in their families to graduate high school.
- Pratham, based in India, provides education opportunities for adolescent girls who had to drop out of high school for a variety of different reasons and helps them achieve their goals.
- Based in New York, The Young Women’s Leadership School of Harlem is a public secondary school that provides a college preparatory option to girls from underserved families.
- The International Rescue Committee creates and provides education programs and safe spaces for vulnerable adolescent girls in refugee environments.
Through these and other partnerships, we as a Company are working to expand support for girls’ education through efforts to help more children around the world reach for their fullest potential.
