Cantu Beauty is partnering with non-profit Gyrl Wonder to create a new program that will support women of color on their personal and professional journeys.
The program — which kicked off this Saturday and will continue into October 2021 — is designed specifically for Black and Latina young women to build resilience, self-confidence and mental wellness as they move to the next stage of their life, according to a press release.
“Women of color deserve to be championed,” says Dametria Mustin, vice president of global marketing at Cantu Beauty. “Cantu Beauty is excited to work with Gyrl Wonder to empower young women’s self-esteem, confidence and equip them with skills to not only navigate the competitive workforce, but also set the tone early that emotional wellness and work-life balance is also a key ingredient to success.”
The partnership between the two organizations comes after Cantu Beauty announced that it would commit efforts towards elevating minority women in their communities.
The initiative’s first program was an Instagram conversation between Tola Lawal, the founder of Gyrl Wonder, and Melissa Carnegie, Cantu Beauty’s head of global communications and community.
This year, the haircare product company has worked on several projects targeted at creating a more inclusive beauty environment, like working with Habia (The Hair and Beauty Industry Authority) to train incoming hairdressing students on how to care for textured hair.
The program, called the Textured Hair Pro-Training Initiative, was implemented to address the inequalities faced by people of color, particularly Black, Latinx and mixed-race communities, when seeking hair services at beauty salons.
Last year, the company announced Cantu Elevate, a program that sought to provide expert tips and tools to 25 Black female entrepreneurs to help them grow their business.
The three winners of the program — Arah Sims and her press-on nail brand Kyutee Nails, Alicia Scott and her cosmetic line Range Beauty, and Tomi Alisha and her hair company NaturAll Club — received a $160,000 advertising campaign that was sponsored by Cantu.
Lawel, who founded Gyrl Wonder in 2015 to empower young women of color through social impact and career development, said she is stoked about the partnership.
“Gyrl Wonder thrives because we lean on our community of generous leaders like the women at Cantu Beauty who want to make a difference in our girls’ lives,” she said. “We are ecstatic to bring on a partner like Cantu this year that can help bridge the gap between the hard skills our girls learn ahead of entering the workforce, but also reinforce those intangibles they need to practice, like self-care, in order to flourish in their careers.”
The program will begin with a series of Instagram conversations, specifically for Gyrl Wonder mentees. Gyrl Wonder already hosts a robust mentorship program where experts from various fields walk young women participants through the ins and outs of their respective fields. This segment of the program is designed to bring those conversations to Instagram.
In August, Cantu will also host a series of virtual workshops. August is National Wellness Month and the workshops will reflect that theme with programs designed to promote positive energy for the entire body and soul.
Cantu and Gyrl Wonder will then convene in October with more than 100 girls for an Emotional Wellness Summit.
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