On March 8, Dermalogica Founder and Chief Visionary, Jane Wurwand and several of her Manhattan-based staff members gathered together on International Women’s Day to support the brand’s philanthropic arm, FITE (Financial Independence Through Entrepreneurship, www.joinFITE.org).

The Dermalogica staff members joined thousands of New Yorkers who marched from Dag Hammarskjold Plaza to Times Square, while chanting “Women’s rights are human rights, this is why we FITE.” Wurwand spoke to a couple of local broadcast outlets including WCBS, where a reporter asked her opinion on how far women have come in closing the gender gap since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 20 years ago. “What have we done? Not enough,” Jane replied. To listen to the complete interview, please click here: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/03/08/hundreds-mark-international-womens-day-with-march-in-nyc

Earlier that morning, Dermalogica co-hosted an intimate brunch with the United Nations Foundation (UNF) at the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York City to discuss solutions on achieving gender equality worldwide. The event welcomed 30 high-level women from the UN, UN Women, UNF, corporations, entrepreneurs and media. Amina Mohammed, Special Advisor on post-2015 Development Planning, United Nations, also attended as the special guest for the event.

Also on International Women’s Day, Wurwand was featured on MSNBC “Your Business”, a 30-minute weekly program focused on the challenges met by small business owners. During her interview, Wurwand spoke to several key issues relevant to FITE, which provides educational and vocational training for women and girls in developing countries as well as job placement.

"Social impact is not an altruistic add-on for brands which authentically participate in social change," Wurwand said. "The commitment to empowering women is “embedded in our brand DNA.” 

Wurwand urged entrepreneurs to seek out the greatest pain in an industry in order to uncover the greatest opportunity for growth, and to articulate the dream clearly—“see it finished”—before going public or seeking funding. She also urged branders to resist pressure to modify their brands in order to conform to markets which may be imperfectly aligned with the brand’s core values. To watch the entire interview, please click here: https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/videos/learning-pros-dermalogica/.

www.dermalogica.com. To learn more about FITE and its commitment to International Women’s Day worldwide, visit www.joinFITE.org/blog.