World renowned beauty brand and Sheppard Mullin client Glossier is standing behind its values with a new initiative to provide grant funding to beauty companies owned by Black entrepreneurs.
The company, started by all female founders, recognized the disproportionately small amount of venture capital funding that goes to businesses owned by Black women each year. Glossier’s initiative will provide advisory support and grants of up to $50,000 to Black beauty entrepreneurs whose applications are accepted.
The company’s $1 million commitment to tackle inequity in the beauty industry also includes donations to non-profit organizations working to fight systemic racism every day. You can read the details of Glossier’s Black beauty initiative here.
Glossier joins many other companies putting money into causes they believe in as a response to recent calls to address systemic racism.
Sheppard Mullin also recently announced a new initiative with Georgetown University Law Center dedicated to teaching the skills and tactics of peer intervention to police officers across the United States. The Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement (ABLE) Project is a part of Georgetown’s Innovating Policing Program, and is co-founded and supported by Sheppard Mullin. The ABLE Project will provide law enforcement agencies with a wealth of training, educational materials, and other resources promoting “active bystandership” as a practical and tested way to protect civilians and police officers.
The ABLE project evolved, in part, out of a significant pro bono project Sheppard Mullin undertook to support the New Orleans Police Department’s creation of the country’s first Department-wide police called EPIC (for Ethical Policing Is Courageous), which promotes a culture of intervention by police officers when they see their peers about to make a mistake or engage in misconduct. The Firm’s pro bono work in New Orleans has supplemented the Firm’s work as the court-appointed federal monitor over the New Orleans Police Department.