Pharrell Partners With Chanel for Mentorship Program for Black and Latinx Entrepreneurs

Pharrell has partnered with Chanel to launch 'Black Ambition,' a non-profit initiative working to create opportunities for Black and Latinx entrepreneurs.

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Pharrell

Just six months after launching his non-profit Black Ambition, Pharrell has partnered with Chanel to announce a new two-part mentorship program focused on the growth and mentorship of emerging talent in the business world.

“Chanel’s support of Black Ambition is a cornerstone of Black Ambition’s mission and is vital to the success of the next generation of Black and Latinx entrepreneurs,” said Pharrell, “to honor their commitment to investing in human potential and advancing greater representation in culture and society, Chanel has put together an amazing panel of women to talk about leadership through a woman’s lens.”

For part one of the initiative, Chanel assembled a panel entitled Women Who Lead that featured 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.

Moderated by Harper’s Bazaar editor-in-chief, the discussion covered topics like resilience and determination, mentorship, building culture and community, and the importance of clarity of vision.

The second pillar of the program focuses on a “comprehensive mentorship program,” which Pharrell says is one of the biggest challenges for winners of prizes like this one.

In the series of interactive mentorship workshops, the finalists will have unprecedented access to Chanel’s leadership community. They’ll also have access to the brand’s network of experts, who will provide them with the essentials of brand-building skills for today’s business landscape.

“Even when you have a great business plan you might not find the right operators,” Pharrell told Vanity Fair. “[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 cosign to get a brand new idea off the ground.”

Watch Pharrell discuss his latest non-profit venture in the video below. 

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