Seven Bar Foundation
Encyclopedia
The Seven Bar Foundation is a social enterprise
that uses cause marketing initiatives and the luxury lingerie industry to consistently fuel microfinance
and benefit underprivileged women around the world. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
based out of New York, New York that raises funds for microfinance institutions (MFI's) to enable women to spearhead their own businesses and rise out of poverty.
, a non-profit that uses business models for social impact. The Foundation relies on commercial markets to fuel a consistent revenue stream
instead of relying on unpredictable and limited donor funding. Seven Bar aligns cause with product, utilizing the European lingerie industry as a marketing platform to reach a critical mass of consciousness, empowering women by providing funding to start their own businesses.
, real estate
development and investments established in New Mexico beginning in the 1950's. Seven Bar and the Black family established the Seven Bar Foundation in 2001 with activities in eight states, contributing to community development
projects in each.
is to breast cancer. The concept is based on of the eighth step of Maimonides
' Golden Ladder, "To prevent poverty by teaching a trade, setting up a person in business, or in some other way preventing the need of charity."
Black and her husband narrowly evaded the destruction of the tsunami when their flight to Thailand was cancelled due to a mechanical failure. After the disaster, Black immediately went to help rebuild the villages shattered by the catastrophic flooding. During this project, a woman from the region approached her and said, "I know you have money and I don’t want it, but why don’t you teach me how to make it myself?" This encounter sparked a new course for Black, who immersed herself in study on microloans and its impact on impoverished communities with 2006 Nobel Prize
winner, Muhammad Yunus
. Black then applied her training by establishing a grassroots
microfinance
endeavor in India that exists to this day.
Having witnessed first-hand the transformative force of microfinance
through her program in India, Black redirected the mission of the Seven Bar Foundation to fund these institutions on a consistent and global basis. She found that microfinance
presents these women with the tools to create an exit strategy out of poverty and allows them to become self-sufficient down the road.
, WPP, with a specialization in consumer technology. Through her friendship with Renata, the Seven Bar Foundation became a pro bono
client to Starworks and soon after, Kim decided to join Renata's vision to empower underprivileged women via microfinance
as a volunteer. Her commitment to the foundation is to take the organization to a non-donor reliant model with a cause marketing
platform, driving revenue from the commercial markets.
DJed the event and supermodel Veronica Webb
showcased a "space lace" corset made of injection-molded fiberglass, designed by Dara Young. The event featured a performance by the Imaginaerial Entertainment Group, a cirque style aerial silk act in which eight aerialists constructed a human Y. Also in attendance were host Sofia Vergara
and media and fashion mogul Russell Simmons
. Lingerie New York raised over $200,000 in the name of microfinance for women.
, co-hosted by Veronica Webb
, DJed by high fashion model Eve Salvail
, and featured guest speaker Deepak Chopra
. Guests were treated to a three course meal, cocktails by Belvedere and champagne by Moet & Chandon. Lingerie Miami featured a live and silent auction, including a private tour of the Desperate Housewives
set in Los Angeles and a kiss with Eva Longoria
that sold for $35,000. The event raised over $180,000, funding microloans for 2,233 women, and garnered over 177 million media impressions.
. For every $29 LipFusion lipgloss sold, $1 of the purchase went to Seven Bar. Fusion Beauty created a limited edition 4-color LipFusion collection titled "Luxe Boudoir," which featured the Seven Bar logo on the packaging and the product itself, and retailed at all Sephora
locations globally. In three months, the cause marketing
campaign sold 100,667 lip glosses, translating to $100,667 in funds for the Foundation.
fund.
Social enterprise
A social enterprise is an organization that applies business strategies to achieving philanthropic goals. Social enterprises can be structured as a for-profit or non-profit....
that uses cause marketing initiatives and the luxury lingerie industry to consistently fuel microfinance
Microfinance
Microfinance is the provision of financial services to low-income clients or solidarity lending groups including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services....
and benefit underprivileged women around the world. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
based out of New York, New York that raises funds for microfinance institutions (MFI's) to enable women to spearhead their own businesses and rise out of poverty.
Model
The Seven Bar Foundation is a social enterpriseSocial enterprise
A social enterprise is an organization that applies business strategies to achieving philanthropic goals. Social enterprises can be structured as a for-profit or non-profit....
, a non-profit that uses business models for social impact. The Foundation relies on commercial markets to fuel a consistent revenue stream
Revenue stream
A revenue stream is a form of revenue. Revenue streams refer specifically to the individual methods by which money comes into a company. Revenue streams may be characterized...
instead of relying on unpredictable and limited donor funding. Seven Bar aligns cause with product, utilizing the European lingerie industry as a marketing platform to reach a critical mass of consciousness, empowering women by providing funding to start their own businesses.
History
Seven Bar is a third-generation family involved in general aviationGeneral aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
, real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
development and investments established in New Mexico beginning in the 1950's. Seven Bar and the Black family established the Seven Bar Foundation in 2001 with activities in eight states, contributing to community development
Community development
Community development is a broad term applied to the practices and academic disciplines of civic leaders, activists, involved citizens and professionals to improve various aspects of local communities....
projects in each.
Logo
Seven Bar Foundation is a business model for social impact. It is the brand for microfinance with its pink bars in the logo representing a “ladder” – an exit strategy out of poverty for women. The ladder is to microfinance very much like what the pink ribbonPink ribbon
The pink ribbon is an international symbol of breast cancer awareness. Pink ribbons, and the color pink in general, identify the wearer or promoter with the breast cancer brand and express moral support for women with breast cancer....
is to breast cancer. The concept is based on of the eighth step of Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
' Golden Ladder, "To prevent poverty by teaching a trade, setting up a person in business, or in some other way preventing the need of charity."
Renata M. Black
Renata Mutis Black has established herself as a philanthropist and humanitarian through her commitment to eliminating poverty. She has fought poverty in twelve different countries, working with terminally disabled children in Hong Kong, mentally disabled elders in New Zealand, and victims of the 2004 tsunami in India. The events of the 2004 tsunami centralized her vision towards microfinance.Black and her husband narrowly evaded the destruction of the tsunami when their flight to Thailand was cancelled due to a mechanical failure. After the disaster, Black immediately went to help rebuild the villages shattered by the catastrophic flooding. During this project, a woman from the region approached her and said, "I know you have money and I don’t want it, but why don’t you teach me how to make it myself?" This encounter sparked a new course for Black, who immersed herself in study on microloans and its impact on impoverished communities with 2006 Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
winner, Muhammad Yunus
Muhammad Yunus
Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi economist and founder of the Grameen Bank, an institution that provides microcredit to help its clients establish creditworthiness and financial self-sufficiency. In 2006 Yunus and Grameen received the Nobel Peace Prize...
. Black then applied her training by establishing a grassroots
Grassroots
A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
microfinance
Microfinance
Microfinance is the provision of financial services to low-income clients or solidarity lending groups including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services....
endeavor in India that exists to this day.
Having witnessed first-hand the transformative force of microfinance
Microfinance
Microfinance is the provision of financial services to low-income clients or solidarity lending groups including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services....
through her program in India, Black redirected the mission of the Seven Bar Foundation to fund these institutions on a consistent and global basis. She found that microfinance
Microfinance
Microfinance is the provision of financial services to low-income clients or solidarity lending groups including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services....
presents these women with the tools to create an exit strategy out of poverty and allows them to become self-sufficient down the road.
Kim Hoedeman
Kim Hoedeman joined Seven Bar as the former Global Managing Director at Starworks, a global communications agency, and Board Director of Hill & KnowltonHill & Knowlton
Hill & Knowlton is a global public relations company, headquartered in New York City, United States, with 79 offices in 44 countries. Hill & Knowlton was founded in Cleveland, Ohio in 1927 by John W. Hill and is today led by Chairman & CEO, Paul Taaffe...
, WPP, with a specialization in consumer technology. Through her friendship with Renata, the Seven Bar Foundation became a pro bono
Pro bono
Pro bono publico is a Latin phrase generally used to describe professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment or at a reduced fee as a public service. It is common in the legal profession and is increasingly seen in marketing, technology, and strategy consulting firms...
client to Starworks and soon after, Kim decided to join Renata's vision to empower underprivileged women via microfinance
Microfinance
Microfinance is the provision of financial services to low-income clients or solidarity lending groups including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services....
as a volunteer. Her commitment to the foundation is to take the organization to a non-donor reliant model with a cause marketing
Cause marketing
Cause marketing or cause-related marketing refers to a type of marketing involving the cooperative efforts of a "for profit" business and a non-profit organization for mutual benefit. The term is sometimes used more broadly and generally to refer to any type of marketing effort for social and...
platform, driving revenue from the commercial markets.
Nominations and Awards
- D&Ad Award 2004,
- PR Week’s Best Consume Campaign 2005 for the TEA COUNCIL
- Sabre Award 2006 for HP and Elle
- [EMEA]
- PRCA Award for Best Digital Campaign “You On The Cover Of Elle”
Lingerie New York
Operating on the tagline "empowering women on a g-string rather than a shoestring," Lingerie New York was produced by fashion week regular Lynne O'Neill and showcased the latest collections of lingerie designers Atsuko Kudo and Carine Gilson. It was held in October 2010 at NYC's historic landmark Cipriani 42nd Street. Michelle RodriguezMichelle Rodriguez
Mayte Michelle Rodríguez , known professionally as Michelle Rodriguez, is an American actress. Following on from her breakthrough role in 2000's Girlfight, she is best known for playing tough-girl roles and starring in Hollywood blockbusters such as The Fast and the Furious, Resident Evil,...
DJed the event and supermodel Veronica Webb
Veronica Webb
Veronica Webb is an American model, actress, writer, journalist and television personality. Webb was the first African-American to have a major cosmetics contract...
showcased a "space lace" corset made of injection-molded fiberglass, designed by Dara Young. The event featured a performance by the Imaginaerial Entertainment Group, a cirque style aerial silk act in which eight aerialists constructed a human Y. Also in attendance were host Sofia Vergara
Sofía Vergara
Sofía Margarita Vergara Vergara is a Colombian actress, comedian, television hostess and model.Vergara had been widely known for co-hosting two TV shows for Univisión in the late 1990s. Her TV career opened up for her a window of exposure to North American audiences prior to her first notable...
and media and fashion mogul Russell Simmons
Russell Simmons
-External links:** * * * * * * from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum* *...
. Lingerie New York raised over $200,000 in the name of microfinance for women.
Partners
Lingerie Miami
Lingerie Miami took place in front of the Vizcaya Palace in Coral Gables, Florida on February 7, 2009, showcasing European lingerie designers Agent Provocateur, Fifi Chachnil, and Carine Gilson on the same stage for the first time. The event was hosted by Eva LongoriaEva Longoria
Eva Jacqueline Longoria is an American actress, best known for portraying Gabrielle Solis on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives...
, co-hosted by Veronica Webb
Veronica Webb
Veronica Webb is an American model, actress, writer, journalist and television personality. Webb was the first African-American to have a major cosmetics contract...
, DJed by high fashion model Eve Salvail
Ève Salvail
-Biography:Salvail was born in Matane, Quebec. While modeling in Japan in the early 1990s she made the decision to shave her head bald and have a Chinese dragon tattooed on her scalp. Her distinctive look was spotted by Jean Paul Gaultier and soon she became a top model in the European fashion...
, and featured guest speaker Deepak Chopra
Deepak Chopra
Deepak Chopra is an Indian medical doctor, public speaker, and writer on subjects such as spirituality, Ayurveda and mind-body medicine. Chopra began his career as an endocrinologist and later shifted his focus to alternative medicine. Chopra now runs his own medical center, with a focus on...
. Guests were treated to a three course meal, cocktails by Belvedere and champagne by Moet & Chandon. Lingerie Miami featured a live and silent auction, including a private tour of the Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
set in Los Angeles and a kiss with Eva Longoria
Eva Longoria
Eva Jacqueline Longoria is an American actress, best known for portraying Gabrielle Solis on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives...
that sold for $35,000. The event raised over $180,000, funding microloans for 2,233 women, and garnered over 177 million media impressions.
LipFusion Lip Gloss by Fusion Beauty
Seven Bar Foundation and Fusion Beauty's "Kiss Away Poverty" campaign launched on September 15, 2009 with Kim KardashianKim Kardashian
Kimberly Noel "Kim" Kardashian is an American socialite, television personality, model, actress and businesswoman. She is known for the E! reality series that she shares with her family—Keeping Up with the Kardashians, and its spin-offs including Kourtney and Kim Take New York...
. For every $29 LipFusion lipgloss sold, $1 of the purchase went to Seven Bar. Fusion Beauty created a limited edition 4-color LipFusion collection titled "Luxe Boudoir," which featured the Seven Bar logo on the packaging and the product itself, and retailed at all Sephora
Sephora
Sephora is a chain of cosmetics stores founded in France in 1970 and acquired by Paris-based conglomerate LVMH in 1997. The Sephora chain includes more than 750 stores in 17 countries...
locations globally. In three months, the cause marketing
Cause marketing
Cause marketing or cause-related marketing refers to a type of marketing involving the cooperative efforts of a "for profit" business and a non-profit organization for mutual benefit. The term is sometimes used more broadly and generally to refer to any type of marketing effort for social and...
campaign sold 100,667 lip glosses, translating to $100,667 in funds for the Foundation.
Stars of Africa Collection by Royal Asscher
Royal Asscher Diamond Company partnered with Seven Bar Foundation for Lingerie New York to present their "Stars of Africa Collection" designed by renowned jewelry designer Reena Ahluwalia. The collection consists of rings, pendants, cufflinks and earrings "with diamonds encased in a fluid-filled sapphire dome, which allows them to fall freely, like snowflakes in a snow globe." Prices range from $1,250-$2,250 for the "Shining Stars" line and $5,950-$8,300 for the "Super Stars" line. For each piece sold, 50% of the profits go to the Foundation's microfinanceMicrofinance
Microfinance is the provision of financial services to low-income clients or solidarity lending groups including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services....
fund.