Cantu Beauty And Women Empowering Nations Collaborate To Promote Female Leadership Across The Globe

Only one out of every five C-level executives is a woman, and one out of every 25 is a woman of color. The fight to close the leadership gap between men and women is still an ongoing battle. In an attempt to reverse the trend, the current focus is on how to gain leaders’ support in order to assist women in overcoming the obstacles they face on their way to the C-suite.

Cantu Beauty, multicultural hair and skincare brand, and Women Empowering Nations (WEN), an international nonprofit —- whose mission is to host programs for girls of color in underserved communities —  have teamed up to close the gap with their 2022 Girls Leading Our World (GLOW) Global Cohort.

Cantu’s mission is to “celebrate you in all your glory.” The goal of the cohort is to reach women of color across the globe. Cantu’s Global Vice President of Marketing, Dametria Kinsley, goes into detail about the skills and resources that the young women will gain from the experience.

“The program is divided into three parts. We have professional coaches from WEN who assist the young women in identifying their strengths and weaknesses. Then we look into what opportunities and careers might be available to them based on their skills.” Kinsley continues, “Third, we immerse the young women in hands-on experiences with executives and retail partners, allowing them to gain an understanding of how that career works while also empowering them.”

Women of color are encouraged to apply to the GLOW cohort, which focuses on leadership and entrepreneurship. The program will help elevate 50 young women of color ages 17-23 by providing them with an immersive, high-impact leadership coaching experience, which will begin in March 2022 and run until May 2022. Participants in this program must be residents of the United States, United Kingdom, France, Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa.

Female executives from various backgrounds in entrepreneurship and leadership will lead workshops on social change, economic justice, women’s empowerment, and leadership at the virtual event.

The collaboration will culminate in a summit in June where ten young women from the GLOW Global Cohort will be chosen to participate in a Cantu GLOW Global Fellowship. It features a four-month internship at Cantu Beauty where they will gain hands-on experience with how the brand is transforming the beauty industry. Two interns from each country will participate while receiving a monetary stipend from Cantu Beauty. Cantu GLOW Global Fellowship will wrap up their program in Nigeria this November with a capstone and group travel seminar that includes service projects, brand promotions, a Cantu executive meet and greet, leadership sessions, and career workshops.

Representation is crucial, especially in today’s climate. The collaboration cohort is dedicated to making an impact and affecting change through their platform. The Cantu brand empowers young people in a way that is especially relevant to young women discovering their natural hair identity. Women Empowering Nation’s Founder and Executive Director, Carlisha Williams Bradley, says the partnership has the potential to change the career paths of young women all over the world. 

“We are thrilled to be collaborating with Cantu Beauty on this program that invests in the future and talent development of young women of color. It’s unusual for young women to receive training from a company that makes products for them and has a fellowship that caters to our specific cultural needs.”

Cantu’s partnership with WEN takes their commitment to reaching women of color all over the world to the next level. Cantu is going above and beyond what is on the shelves. “Great products and high-quality, functional products are essential, but we’re also connecting with the culture in other ways.” Kinsley claims that their representation begins in-house, with marketing, product development, chemists, and stylists who help validate the brand’s and product’s authenticity.