NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--At the Clinton Global Initiative, Jane Wurwand, Founder of Dermalogica, announced an entrepreneurship education initiative for the salon industry that is set to impact more than 100,000 women and girls over the next three years.
Dermalogica joined No Ceilings: The Full Participation Project, an initiative of the Clinton Foundation, Vital Voices Global Partnership, WEConnect International and a coalition of over 30 core partners from the public, private, and multilateral sectors to announce a new series of commitments that aim to address significant gender gaps and advance the gender equality targets of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Over the next five years, the coalition’s collective CGI Commitments to Action will directly impact more than 900,000 individuals in over 60 countries worldwide to advance women’s economic participation, address violence against girls and women, and promote women’s leadership in both the public and private sectors.
The U.S. salon and spa industry provides a robust entrepreneurship avenue for women, who make up 85% of the industry and own 61% of all salon businesses. Additionally, the industry is projected to post better than average job growth and has registered steady growth over the last decade – outperforming the overall economy in 11 of the last 14 years.
Recognizing this projected growth and unique opportunity for women, the FITE Entrepreneur Accelerator Program will focus on filling the business skills gap that currently exists in the salon industry by creating entrepreneurship education to supplement the existing vocational training education.
“Expertise in education and skillset training have been the cornerstones of Dermalogica’s success for over 30 years,” said Jane Wurwand. “We are now looking to jumpstart entrepreneurship education with women in the salon industry – accelerating the potential of over 100,000 women and girls in the U.S.”
The initiative will span several phases and include: the creation and launch of an online resource platform; providing scholarships to a select group of women in the industry for community college online education classes; and hosting a weekend-long boot camp for salon entrepreneurs – at a partnered college or university – to take business, financial literacy, and management workshops.
After assessing the findings from these first three phases, Dermalogica will move into the phase four launch of a new education platform with salon specific courses such as how to retail, balance your books, market services, manage a small business, employee skills, and how to increase your service revenue and take home pay. The platform will be developed in partnership with global financial empowerment non-profit partner Operation Hope who is digitizing their financial ‘dignity’ education and entrepreneurship curriculum.
FITE (Financial Independence Through Entrepreneurship) is an economic empowerment and educational initiative founded in 2011 by Dermalogica®, to support women entrepreneurs around the world to start and grow businesses. A seasoned entrepreneur who was able to start and grow her business as a result of receiving skill-based training in the salon industry, Wurwand believes that vocational education is critical not just for women in the U.S., but globally. In conjunction with the new program, FITE launched the Purpose Driven Education Coalition bringing together the public and private sectors to share best practices, create partnerships and invest in pathways to successful entrepreneurship and small business ownership for women. A panelist on the Clinton Global Initiative’s women and girls-focused session “Beyond Equality: Harnessing the Power of Girls & Women for Sustainable Development”, Wurwand discussed the role that purpose driven education plays in reducing inequality and impacting our global economies by creating an inclusive, diverse, and empowered workforce.
About Dermalogica:
Dermalogica® revolutionized the skin care industry when it launched into the marketplace in 1986 with innovative formulations, which excluded common irritants, including SD alcohol, lanolin, mineral oil and artificial colors and fragrances. Co-founder Jane Wurwand developed the products to better support the advanced curriculum she had developed a few years earlier for The International Dermal Institute, which she also co-founded. Wurwand led the company’s growth from an idea to the world’s most-requested professional skin care brand, which is today sold in over 100 countries worldwide. In 2011, Wurwand established FITE (Financial Independence Through Entrepreneurship) Dermalogica’s social impact initiative to support women entrepreneurs around the world start and grow businesses so they can support their families and communities at large. Through FITE, Dermalogica® has helped fund more than 75K microfinance loans for women entrepreneurs in more than 68 countries, and provides vocational training and scholarship programs for woman and girls across the world. Dermalogica® products are made in the USA; the company’s global operations are based in Carson, CA, just south of Los Angeles. To learn more, visit www.dermalogica.com, www.dermalinstitute.com, or www.joinfite.org.
About the Clinton Global Initiative
Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), an initiative of the Clinton Foundation, convenes global leaders to create and implement solutions to the world's most pressing challenges. CGI Annual Meetings have brought together 190 sitting and former heads of state, more than 20 Nobel Prize laureates, and hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations and NGOs, major philanthropists, and members of the media. To date, members of the CGI community have made more than 3,500 Commitments to Action, which have improved the lives of over 430 million people in more than 180 countries. For more information, visit clintonglobalinitiative.org and follow us on Twitter @ClintonGlobal and Facebook at facebook.com/clintonglobalinitiative.
About No Ceilings: The Full Participation Project
No Ceilings: The Full Participation Project is an initiative of the Clinton Foundation which aims to advance the full participation of girls and women around the world. Through a data-driven analysis on gender equality, an in-depth conversation series, innovative partnerships, and CGI commitments, No Ceilings builds an evidence-based case to chart the path forward for the full participation of girls and women in the 21st century. For more information, visit noceilings.org.
About Vital Voices Global Partnership
Vital Voices Global Partnership invests in women leaders who improve the world. Guided by the belief that women are essential to progress in their communities, it has partnered with leaders from more than 140 countries who advance economic opportunity, increase political and public leadership, and end violence against women. Programs in strategic planning, business, advocacy and communications build critical skills needed for creating transformational change at scale. Through its global platform, women leaders expand their connections and visibility, accelerating shared progress for all. Visit www.vitalvoices.org to learn more.
About WEConnect International
WEConnect International helps women-owned businesses succeed in global value chains. It identifies, educates, registers, and certifies women's business enterprises based outside of the U.S. that are at least 51% owned, managed, and controlled by one or more women, and then connects them with qualified buyers. Visit www.WEConnectInternational.org to learn more.
