Estée Lauder names first-year grantees for Writing Change initiative

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
Feb 8, 2022

The Estée Lauder Companies, which owns Estée Lauder, Clinique, Bobbi Brown and Donna Karan among others, announced on Monday the first-year grant recipients for its Writing Change initiative. 

The global US$3M literacy impact initiative was inspired by Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history, award-winning writer, and Estée Lauder. It promises to invest in organizations working to close the literacy gap and to support efforts that work to advance systemic changes over the next three years. 

In its first year, Writing Change will fund five U.S.-based organizations starting with American Library Association, the largest library organization in the world; We Need Diverse Books, a nonprofit organization that runs twelve initiatives to combat systemic racism and oppression; Girls Write Now, offering a supportive and networked community of writers; WriteGirl, a Los Angeles-based creative writing and mentoring organization; and Migizi, which supports the educational, social, economic, and cultural development of Native American youth. 

“We are so proud to launch Writing Change. This program is deeply tied to our company’s long-standing commitment to the advancement of education, particularly for women and girls – and was deeply inspired by Amanda’s belief in literacy as a pathway to change and its mission,” said Fabrizio Freda, president and CEO, The Estée Lauder Companies.

“Amanda herself demonstrates the power of storytelling and the impact of words on the lives of young people and how words can be a catalyst to effect change.”

The company said that the Writing Change initiative will track and evaluate grantee impact on an annual basis in close coordination with the nonprofit partners, including robust reporting on programmatic progress across each pillar.