THE WHAT? Pharrell Williams has teamed up with fashion house Chanel via his equity-focused initiative Black Ambition to launch a two-part mentorship program for Black and Latinx entrepreneurs.
THE DETAILS Williams took to YouTube to announce the launch, unveiling that the first part of the program will include a virtual discussion called Women Who Lead, with the panel featuring Tracee Ellis Ross, Medley Co-Founder Edith Cooper, Good American CEO and co-founder Emma Grede and Imaginary Ventures co-founder and partner Natalie Massenet.
The second part of the program will be a series of interactive workshops given to Black Ambition finalists, as part of a ‘comprehensive mentorship program.’
According to Williams, the group will have ‘unprecedented access’ to Chanel’s leadership community as well as the brand’s network of experts that will ‘help teach the essentials of brand building skills for 21st century business.’
These skills were said to potentially be challenging for prize winners. Williams said, “Even when you have a great business plan, you might not find the right operators.”
THE WHY? The collaboration is the latest industry effort to amplify the voices of the Black and Latinx community.
Williams stated, “I am incredibly honored by Chanel’s support of Black Ambition. Mentorship is a cornerstone of Black Ambition’s mission and is vital to the success of the next generation of Black and Latinx entrepreneurs.
“[The mentorship program] teaches you all of those things. Success really does have a lot of authors. Usually when you say ‘success has a lot of authors’ it’s a dig at people who didn’t do something but are taking the credit. In this particular sense when it comes to running a business, success does have a lot of authors – there are a lot of signatures needed to co-sign to get a brand new idea off the ground.”
