Lancôme, Lupita Nyong’o gift $10K scholarships to 40 Black female students at NAACP ceremony
Students will have an opportunity to advance their education in academic, scientific and artistic fields.
Forty Black female college students received $400,000 in scholarships from Lancôme through its Write Her Future Write Scholarship Fund to pursue their chosen career paths.
Each student was awarded a $10,000 scholarship from the cosmetics company on July 17 during the NAACP National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Yahoo! News reported in an article from Women’s Wear Daily.
Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o announced the recipients. Nyong’o, who is also a Lancôme ambassador, talked to the audience about the value of equity in education, which is detailed in a July 18 statement from Lancôme announcing the scholarship recipients.
“While we’re here to celebrate your boldness and brilliance, I am here to introduce a special moment powered by Lancôme in partnership with the NAACP and ACT-SO,” Nyong’o said, according to Yahoo!. “This year, 40 ACT-SO women will receive $10,000 scholarships from the inaugural Write Her Future Scholarship Fund. That’s right — $400,000 in scholarships to foster self-empowerment and fulfillment through education and empowerment of young women.”
Nyong’o also stated that the fund supports scholarships for the next generation of American women of color who wish to pursue higher education, Lancôme internships and “workforce development training,” as well as mentoring, coaching and resources to help them pursue careers and launch businesses.
Scholarship winner Sy’Maya Summiel aspires to be a professional musician, Yahoo! reports. “My goal in life is to become a musician within a professional symphony orchestra, and in pit orchestras for Broadway or various musical productions,” said Summiel, a music education major at the College of New Jersey. “I believe this scholarship will contribute to the furthering of my education in college. I’m excited to start college to prepare for this wonderful career!”
Lancôme and Nyong’o announced their partnership with NAACP ACT-SO in September 2021.
ACT-SO (Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics) is a yearlong achievement program that has served more than 10,000 college-bound students and offers a platform for young people to succeed in academic, scientific and artistic fields.
“We’re excited to once again provide talented young women across the country the opportunity to further develop their creativity and achieve their academic dreams with purpose and unrestricted passion,” NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson said in the July 18 statement. “Young people are the future. We’re excited to see how participants in the program will positively impact their communities and create change for themselves and the next generation.”
Lancôme, which has committed to promoting career development and educational equity in the U.S., has promised to donate $2 million to the Write Her Future program by 2025.
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