Kate Spade New York Launches Social Impact Council with the Help of Global Changemakers

The Council will focus on women's empowerment and mental health issues.

Kate Spade New York has recently launched the Social Impact Council to empower women around the world. With mental health as the core focus, the luxury brand is hoping to eradicate the stigma associated with mental health issues and provide resources for those in need.

“Women’s empowerment has been at the heart of our social impact efforts for over a decade, and has become a core pillar of the Kate Spade New York Brand,” says CEO and Brand President Liz Fraser.

The seven-member all female-body is made up of global empowerment and mental health leaders, including Taraji P. Henson, Cynthia Germanotta, Jazz Thornton, Catherine Tinsley, Elisha London, Norette Turimuci and Latham Thomas.

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Jazz Thornton

New Zealand-based mental health advocate and co-founder of Voices of Hope

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Henson and the rest of the council members seek to engage in both in-person and digital activations within the community throughout the year. Their goal is to provide 100,000 women with direct access to mental health and empowerment tools by 2025.

“As they join our mission to push the boundaries of how we can bring about progress, we look forward to also supporting their work and the causes important to them,” Fraser added.

In 2014, Kate Spade propelled its effort to fund women’s empowerment with the On Purpose program. The Rwanda-based project in partnership with local handbag production facility Abahizi Rwanda employs women who created the brand's infamous handbags. The 2018 suicide of creative founder Kate Brosnahan Spade led to the expansion of the brand's social impact program and reaffirmed the importance of providing women with support and mental health resources.

The brand also pledged to donate over $2 million annually through its foundation to help fund resources, partnering with organizations such as Black Girls Smile, National Council for Mental Wellbeing, The Trevor Project and more.

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Images courtesy of Kate Spade New York.