DARK & LOVELY AND STORM REID HOST BUILDING BEAUTIFUL FUTURES MASTERCLASS: "A BLACK GIRL'S GUIDE TO MENTORSHIP"

First Installment of Virtual Mentorship Masterclass Series on April 25^th
Brings Actionable Tools & Tactics for Young Black Women 
to Achieve Academic and Early Career Success

NEW YORK, April 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Dark & Lovely, a leader in Black beauty for the last 50 years, is hosting their first-ever Building Beautiful Futures Mentoring Masterclass: A Black Girl's Guide to Mentorship on Monday, Apr 25, 2022 at 5:30PM ET. As part of the event, Dark & Lovely's Brand ambassador, actress, producer and "artivist," Storm Reid will discuss the power of mentorship and offer key advice and takeaways for young Black women navigating their academic and career journeys.  The virtual event, the first in the Building Beautiful Futures Mentorship Masterclass series, will be hosted by Symone Sanders, author, advocate and host of upcoming show, SYMONE on MSNBC and MSNBC's streaming platform, Peacock. The Masterclass will also feature NAACP Chief Strategy Officer, Yumeka Rushing, and a musical set by DJ Kiss.  The event is open to everyone and free of charge. To register please visit: https://hopin.com/events/buildingbeautifulfutures.

"Throughout my life, I have been lucky enough to have mentors that have guided me and been a consistently present support to help me get to where I am today," said Storm Reid. "I'm so excited to join Dark & Lovely in hosting this event to help share the importance and ability to create a shared community and support system for all of our journeys, especially as young Black females."

A Black Girl's Guide to Mentorship will address topics such as: "how to get a mentor," "how to be a great mentee," "goal setting," "time management," "intention setting" and more, while creating space for attendees to share their experiences and connect. Participants will also enjoy surprise giveaways throughout the session courtesy of Dark & Lovely.

"With the Building Beautiful Futures mentorship masterclass series, we aim to inspire and uplift the next generation of Black female leaders," commented Erica Culpepper, General Manager, Dark & Lovely. "Now more than ever, young Black women are in need of actionable support that can propel them forward."

Launched in January 2022, the Building Beautiful Futures initiative was developed to help bring educational and career equity to Black, female college students and young professionals through scholarships, mentorship and career coaching opportunities. As part of this initiative, Dark & Lovely has partnered with The NAACP Youth & College Division to provide four-year scholarships of $10,000 per year for young Black women pursuing four-year degrees.  Applications for the Building Beautiful Futures scholarships are now open through May 20, 2022. Apply at: https://naacp.org/find-resources/scholarships-awards-internships/scholarships/building-beautiful-futures-scholarship

"The NAACP prides itself in supporting the enhancement of the lives of the Black community," said Rushing. "Recent events highlighted in public, such as the confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, further push the necessity for higher education among young Black women. Through our partnership with Dark & Lovely, the NAACP Youth and College Division takes pride in aiding the achievements of our scholarship recipients throughout their undergraduate matriculation. I'm honored to be a part of such monumental influence for the betterment of Black women's success."

Be The Change

Join Dark & Lovely in the fight to Close the Opportunity Gap by visiting: https://softsheen-carson.com/buildingbeautifulfutures

Also, follow @darkandlovely and @NAACP on Instagram for real-time program announcements and information.

About Dark & Lovely
Dark & Lovely, founded in 1972, was created to help Black women express and embrace their individual styles. As one of the first brands to celebrate the Black consumer, for 50 years Dark & Lovely has been known for offering innovative products and technology made exclusively for Black Women to address their specific beauty needs.  As a subsidiary of L'Oréal USA, Dark & Lovely continues to unveil breakthrough hair innovations for women of color. For more information, visit www.darkandlovely.com.

About NAACP
Founded in 1909 in response to the ongoing violence against Black people around the country, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) is the largest and most pre-eminent civil rights organization in the nation. We have over 2,200 units and branches across the nation, along with well over 2M activists. Our mission is to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons. Learn More: https://naacp.org/ 

About Storm Reid
Storm Reid is an actress, producer, artivist and current freshman at USC. She is best known for starring as 'Meg' in Disney's live action adaptation of the acclaimed children's novel A WRINKLE IN TIME, which was directed by multi-award winner Ava DuVernay. The film also starred Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling. 

Reid landed her first feature film role opposite Brad Pitt, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender in the Academy Award winning film TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE directed by Steve McQueen and continued in Judy Greer's directorial debut A HAPPENING OF MONUMENTAL PROPORTIONS, and SLEIGHT which premiered at Sundance and was picked up by Blumhouse. 

Reid was seen in the 2021 DC Comics film THE SUICIDE SQUAD and in 2020 was seen in Blumhouse's INVISIBLE MAN alongside Elizabeth Moss. She also appeared in the Blumhouse thriller DON'T LET GO, opposite David Oyelowo – the film premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and was released on August 30, 2019. On the small screen, Reid can be seen in Ava DuVernay's Netflix limited series WHEN THEY SEE US, based on the Central Park Five – the series launched on May 31, 2019. The series racked up 16 Emmy Nominations and garnered two wins. She also stars alongside Zendaya in HBO's EUPHORIA. Storm plays Gia Bennett, Rue's (Zendaya) younger sister. The story follows a group of high school students navigating issues of drugs, sex, and violence. The all-star cast also includes Jacob Elordi, Algee Smith and Sydney Sweeney. This gritty drama premiered on June 9, 2019 and is just finished airing its second season. Reid also voiced 'Nia' in Hulu's animated children's series THE BRAVEST KNIGHT. The series received a 2020 GLAAD Media Award nomination for Outstanding Kids & Family Programming. 

In 2021, Reid starred in Facebook Watch's "Chop it Up," a conversation series by way of cooking. The series was created and produced by Reid and her mother, Robyn Simpson, through their production company "A Seed and Wings." Each episode, viewers watched Reid and one of her friends discuss topics from dating to ethics, all while preparing a meal together. 

CONTACT: Nicole Manigault, [email protected] 

SOURCE Dark & Lovely