More than simply doing good, these people embody change, driven by empathy for others and a desire to make the world a better place. Having the intention of doing something good is a common desire among leaders and entrepreneurs, but change only happens when intentions are translated into action. And a true changemaker identifies a problem or opportunity to tackle, decides to do something about it, and only stops once they make a difference.
Changemaker of the Year: A person who has profoundly changed the business of beauty by bringing about positive change linked to equity, health, climate, or sustainability.
Meet BeautyMatter's 2024 Changemaker of the Year finalists:
Brook Harvey-Taylor, Founder & CEO, Pacifica Beauty
Brook is a visionary founder, trailblazing a 100% vegan and cruelty-free brand leading innovation in clean beauty for 28 years. Her journey began with a bold vision to implement personal values of conscious living into the beauty industry, challenging the status quo by creating effective and ethical products made with natural ingredients at accessible price points. Leading with kindness and quality, Brook initiated a grassroots movement in the industry by carving out a new current pillared in ingenuity, community, and empathy.
Advocating for transparency and accountability since day one, Pacifica Beauty was clean before it became a mainstream trend. Operating under the unfaltering philosophy of compassionism, Pacifica Beauty embodies its guiding ethos of ”Beauty with a higher purpose.” Brook dared to reimagine what beauty could look like, reshaping the beauty industry by pioneering a brand built for the future.
Pacifica Beauty is committed to reducing its environmental footprint through thoughtful packaging solutions and ethical, 100% vegan, and cruelty-free ingredient sourcing. Fostering partnerships with organizations that champion animal advocacy, human rights, and environmental conservation, Pacifica Beauty uses its platform and voice to advocate for positive change by collaborating with notable foundations. More than just a brand, Brook has created a movement that empowers people to redefine beauty and make conscious choices that align with their values, thereby contributing to a more sustainable and ethical world.
Kendra Bracken-Ferguson, Founder, BrainTrust
Kendra has built a conglomerate that includes BrainTrust Agency, BrainTrust Founders Studio and BrainTrust Fund. Expanding her personal brand pillars of community, mentorship, education, and capital, she has created an ecosystem for winning to drive impact and resonance, specifically by creating programming and content to effectively highlight and uplift diverse founders and their contributions across the beauty and wellness industry.
In addition to the external impact, for the past decade, Kendra has built a diverse company that represents the full spectrum of culture, building a team of innovators, builders, and intrapreneurs paving the way for the next generation of entrepreneurs. Her small but mighty team of seven has a diverse makeup of LGBTQI, three nationalities, three generations, and geographical representation across the coasts further proving that diverse teams perform better.
While investing and supporting diverse founders is the right thing to do; it is also the smart business thing to do. Kendra has been committed not only to creating the spaces for inclusion but also leveraging verifiable, tangible data points to reinforce positive impact. It is her mission to show and not just tell of the impact diverse founders are making.
Laney Crowell, Founder & CEO, Saie
Saie is a clean, performance-driven makeup brand with a mission to feel good and do good for people and the planet. Led by Laney’s visionary leadership, Saie has seen 300% year-over-year (YoY) growth in the clean beauty space since 2019. The brand redefined industry standards and sustainable practices and has been at the forefront of driving positive social change.
Laney has continued to helm Saie with her nimble, strategic leadership, making waves in sustainable, cause-driven beauty. She is driven by her community, who “Saie” what they’d like to see. From product launches that consistently deliver on Saie’s community’s wants and needs to pioneering a groundbreaking first-of-its-kind human rights campaign, Saie has expanded its viral social presence.
Laney uses the Saie platform to speak up on topics affecting Saie’s internal and external communities. Deeply moved by the loss of reproductive freedoms following the overturning of Roe v. Wade and how this decision affects Every birthing Body, but in particular those in marginalized communities, she wanted to take a stand to protect the rights and lives of those who have been integral in propelling the beauty industry forward.
Laney used Saie’s platform to raise awareness and funds for reproductive justice with the launch of The Every Body Campaign, a first-of-its-kind beauty industry campaign that rallied 60+ beauty and wellness brands to fundraise for The SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective. The campaign also educated the public on the Reproductive Justice movement and inspired them to vote in this year’s presidential elections. It ultimately raised $100K in the first year and doubled its impact with a 100% increase YoY, raising over $300K in 2024.
Rose-Marie Swift, Founder, RMS Beauty
A master makeup artist for over 40 years, Rose-Marie's lightbulb moment was realizing that skincare and cosmetics could be made with better, safer ingredients while simultaneously making women more beautiful. Bold and unwavering in her quest for innovative clean ingredients that perform, she launched RMS in 2009 to clean up the industry and set a higher standard for beauty. Today, her innovative spirit and unapologetic approach has made her more beloved than ever, inspiring the next generation of clean beauty believers.
Rose-Marie takes a holistic, educational approach to giving back. For RMS, it’s bringing the safest products to the community while always making sustainable strides. To date, RMS has saved 5,000+ pounds of plastic through the purchase of its refillable products. Rose-Marie’s authentic spirit endears everyone she encounters, including her new audience of fans on TikTok and the students she mentors at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). She personally trains each RMS Artist Expert, and her dedication to using the best clean ingredients is admirable in an industry that can often cut corners.
Tarang Amin, Chairman & CEO, e.l.f. Beauty
Tarang has been leading innovation and unleashing the superpowers of high performance teams to drive growth for world-class consumer brands for over 30 years. Joining e.l.f. in 2014 with a mission to make the best of beauty accessible to every eye, lip, and face, Tarang took the company public in 2016 in one of the most successful beauty IPOs. Tarang has grown the business over 7x, strategically expanded into a multibrand portfolio that includes e.l.f. Cosmetics, e.l.f. SKIN, Well People, and Keys Soulcare.
His commitment to building teams that mirror the consumers they serve is reflected not only in e.l.f. Beauty’s employee base, but also in its board of directors. e.l.f. Beauty is one of only four public companies out of nearly 4,200 in the US with a board of directors that has at least two-thirds women and at least one-third minority representation. He continues to lead the company with purpose, standing with every eye, lip, face, and paw; encouraging self-expression, empowering others, and embodying ethics.
e.l.f. Beauty lives by its ethos of being a bold disruptor with a kind heart, led by Tarang’s extraordinary vision to disrupt norms, shape culture, and connect communities through positivity, inclusivity, and accessibility. e.l.f. Beauty delivers on its mission to make the highest quality products accessible to every eye, lip, face, and skin concern and stands by its motto that “anything is e.l.f.ing possible.”
Tom Kuhn, Founder & CEO, Qnity Enterprises
Tom is a visionary leader and trusted beauty and wellness expert. For nearly three decades, he has dedicated himself to elevating the economic reality and possibilities of a career in beauty. Through an unwavering commitment to finding innovative solutions, making financial education accessible, generating groundbreaking data, providing essential resources for businesses, and fostering partnerships with leading educational institutions, his expertise in the economics of pro beauty is unparalleled.
Tom is a fierce advocate for the financial success and sustainability of the beauty industry, driven by his passion for data, education, and financial literacy. Drawing from his experience as a former salon owner, Tom recognized the industry’s pain points and set out to develop simple, visual learning tools and programs that make financial education accessible and engaging for professionals from all backgrounds.
Tom’s leadership extends beyond the creation of companies and educational products. He has been a prominent voice advocating for the economic empowerment of beauty professionals and the elevation of industry standards. The Qnity Institute, a direct result of Tom’s commitment to overcoming misperceptions about careers in professional beauty, has conducted groundbreaking research on salon compensation models, multilocation performance, and workforce trends. The findings have been presented to the Chief Economist at the US White House and on Capitol Hill, catching the attention of policymakers and providing invaluable insights to industry stakeholders.
Join us in Los Angeles, CA for the NEXT Award and Summit on October 24, 2024 to find out who wins.Secure your space.
