Anastasia Beverly Hills has announced the details of its grant scheme for Black-owned businesses and applications are now open.

Back in June, the beauty company pledged $1 million dollars towards the fight against systemic racism. Beginning with a donation of $100K to organisations including Black Lives Matter and the Innocence Project, ABH has now shared details of how it is working to make a difference at a community level through support for social initiatives, mental health and Black-owned businesses.

The company has donated $250,000 to mental health resources created by and for Black people, and allocated $200,000 to social initiatives, including community restoration, enrichment programs, and youth-oriented organisations. The first of these allocations was $50K to the education of a Noonan Scholar, an exceptional young woman studying Biological Sciences.

$450,000 is going directly to Black-owned businesses through a grant initiative. Open to all industries – not just beauty – grants between $10K - $50K will be available. To apply, you need to submit a video explaining your story, why you got into your profession, and what inspires you. Videos cannot be longer than three minutes. Applications opened on August 8 and close on August 13. 

From there, selected applicants will receive the form application, and those applications will go on to be reviewed by an incredible cross-industry committee. In addition to funding, grant recipients will be offered business mentorship from Anastasia Beverly Hills as well as opportunities to work with a business banker from Wells Fargo. You can find out more here and answer any questions you have here.

Anastasia Beverly Hill has also addressed the importance of enacting real change in its own backyard. As part of Sharon Chuter’s #PullUpOrShutUp challenge, it released internal numbers on diversity. 61 per cent of the company identify themselves as people of colour including 6 per cent who identify as Black. In leadership positions, 51 per cent identify as people of colour including 6 per cent Black.

“It’s time that we take a much more active approach to ensuring inclusivity at our corporate office and in positions of leadership, and I look forward to sharing our progress as it develops,” founder Anastasia Soare wrote.

In June, Glossier launched its own scheme to help Black-owned beauty businesses with $500K worth of grants. Applications closed in July.