COVERGIRL® Celebrates Second Year of #GirlsCan Movement
HUNT VALLEY, Md.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–COVERGIRL
is celebrating the second year of its #GirlsCan program, a movement with
a mission to empower young women to overcome barriers, break boundaries
and be the next generation to rock the world. At a time when girls are
preparing to go back to school and they, along with their mothers and
fathers, are thinking about the future, COVERGIRL aims to inspire more
women and girls to strive to make strides in areas where women are
currently underrepresented, from technology and engineering, to media
and sports, to entrepreneurship and beyond. To kick off the second year
of the movement, COVERGIRL – which committed $5MM over five years to the
cause – is sharing first-year results and also launching a video content
series produced by journalist and documentarian Soledad O’Brien.
The content series features powerful stories of four women who have
faced challenges, forged ahead and defied the odds to achieve their
dreams, setting an example for many other women to follow. The
pioneering women featured in the series include:
-
COVERGIRL Becky G, an inspiring young Latina rap star, who has broken
through on the charts in a male-dominated industry -
Geena Rocero, a transgender woman who has not only graced the cover of
top magazines and ads for fashion brands, but is also an entrepreneur
with her own production company -
Tina Garnanez, a former female military veteran coping with PTSD, who
fought for years in the military, where women make up just 15% of the
population -
Rochelle Ballantyne, college student, and currently the closest female
in the United States to achieving the chess title of “Master” —there
are only 50 female masters out of 846 in the US!
The series is available to view on the COVERGIRL YouTube channel at covergirl.com/GirlsCan.
“Women today are out there breaking barriers and setting records in all
sectors of their lives but are still facing challenges that many people
wouldn’t expect in the new millennium,” said Soledad O’Brien. “We are so
excited to work with COVERGIRL and share our series on how these
courageous women are changing society. Their struggles are all real and
relatable while their stories are inspiring.”
COVERGIRL has always believed that women CAN change the world and wants
to harness the power and possibility of girls everywhere for
boundary-breaking change, whether at school, at work, or in
entrepreneurial pursuits. In the first year of #GirlsCan, as part of the
$5 million-over-five-years donation, COVERGIRL collaborated with two
non-profit partners to help impact change including Girls
Who Code, and Soledad
O’Brien + Brad Raymond Starfish Foundation. Through this
programming, COVERGIRL:
-
Helped Girls Who Code get closer to achieving their goal of closing
the gender gap in computer science; helping fund 500 new Clubs
programs for the 2015-2016 academic year. By the end of 2015, Girls
Who Code programs will have taught computer science to 10,000 girls in
over 34 states. -
Challenged Girls Who Code Clubs participants to design a mobile app
that would empower women and girls to express themselves and celebrate
their unique beauty. After working on their apps for one month, a
panel of judges reviewed the submissions based on
creativity/originality and the ability to communicate the concept
clearly. Six winners were chosen including: Nithya Krishnamurthy,
Kelly Zhong, Sonya Ganeshram, Sarayu Malireddy, Gabby Nathan and
Giselle Gulik. -
Granted thirty-six scholarships over the next 2 years to young women
in their pursuit to higher education to create high impact change for
women in the future through the Soledad O’Brien + Brad Raymond
Starfish Foundation. Has helped over 1,000 girls take part in
PowHERful summit events. -
Encouraged awareness of #GirlsCan and continued to impact change
through a special retail promotion where purchase of a
specially-marked mascara benefited two additional non-profit
organizations, Step
Up and Dress
for Success.
In all of COVERGIRL’s activations for #GirlsCan, the brand is committing
to providing a megaphone to the voices of women and their stories of
breaking boundaries. To stay updated on the latest #GirlsCan news, visit
us at covergirl.com/GirlsCan
or follow COVERGIRL on YouTube youtube.com/covergirl,
Facebook facebook.com/covergirl,
Twitter twitter.com/covergirl
and Instagram instagram.com/covergirl.
About Girls Who Code
Girls Who Code is a national non-profit
organization working to close the gender gap in technology. Through its
Summer Immersion Program and Girls Who Code Clubs, the organization is
leading the movement to inspire, educate, and equip young women with the
computing skills to pursue 21st century opportunities. Additional
information is available at www.girlswhocode.com.
About the Soledad O’Brien + Brad Raymond Starfish Foundation
Founded
in 2011, the Soledad O’Brien + Brad Raymond Starfish Foundation (www.starfishscholars.org)
exists to provide hardworking young women with the resources necessary
to succeed. The Starfish Foundation was created to get young women out
of the shadows and onto the road toward their dreams. Starfish’s
comprehensive collection of programs and initiatives is a holistic
approach designed to address the complex needs of the foundation’s
family of scholars. In addition to providing financial support, they
focus on life skills, career readiness, and network building through
mentor relationships. The goal is to create transformational change in
the individual lives of the girls. PowHERful – The Starfish foundation’s
annual PowHERful Summits are about giving girls the tools they need to
go out in the world and make it their own.
About Step Up
Step Up believes all girls should have the
opportunity to fulfill their potential. Through after-school and weekend
mentorship programs, the nonprofit propels girls from under-resourced
communities to fulfill their potential by empowering them to become
confident, college-bound, career-focused and ready to join the next
generation of professional women.
About Dress for Success
Dress for Success is a global
not-for-profit organization that promotes the economic independence of
disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of
support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work
and in life. Since starting operations in 1997, Dress for Success has
expanded to 140 cities in 20 countries. To date, Dress for Success has
helped more than 850,000 women work towards self-sufficiency.
About COVERGIRL
Easy, breezy, beautiful from the start,
COVERGIRL now holds an iconic position in the world of beauty and pop
culture: the brand that has been empowering women to rock their
beautiful for more than 50 years. Throughout its history – and still
today – COVERGIRL has been known as a cosmetics category leader and
innovator, with first-to-market technologies, famous faces, and on-trend
marketing campaigns. Whether how to get the look, or how to get
behind-the-scenes access to the hottest celebrity event, COVERGIRL has
got it covered. Visit www.covergirl.com
or find @COVERGIRL in social media for more information.
Contacts
For more information and interview requests, please contact:
Marina
Maher Communications
Rena Dubs, 212-485-6834
rdubs@mahercomm.com
