Mented Cosmetics is joining forces with Black Girls Code for the brand’s inaugural Juneteenth Campaign.
The brand, cofounded by KJ Miller and Amanda Johnson in 2017, will donate $5,000 to support the nonprofit organization’s mission toward creating an equitable computer programming field.
“Black Girls Code is an organization that aligns exactly with what we’re trying to do, which is support young girls and underserved communities — it’s important to build representation in tech,” said Kate Fernandez, head of brand at Mented.
The brand’s donation will help sponsor 50 girls between the ages of seven and 17 in a two-week intensive program this August, which will employ project-based learning to develop participants’ computer skills. The initiative marks Black Girls Code’s first in-person program since before the pandemic.
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“This is [Mented’s] first give-back campaign; we love that these girls will be together around like-minded folks, while being supported by mentors in the tech space,” Fernandez said. “When we discussed what we’d want for a give-back campaign, education was always top of mind.”
Mented has recruited Black-owned brands including Rosen Skincare and Krèyol for a multibrand giveaway and other social media activations to bring awareness to Black Girls Code, which was founded in 2011 by Kimberly Bryant and has trained nearly 20,000 girls to date.
Last year, Mented closed a $5 million Series A round led by Corazon Capital and CircleUp Growth Partners to support distribution at Ulta Beauty, Target and international expansion. Before that, Miller and Johnson raised $1 million to support the brand’s launch in 2017, becoming the 15th and 16th Black women to ever do so.
The brand recently underwent a refresh to further emphasize product education for the brand’s consumers, who Fernandez described as “mainly older Millennials.” Mented’s product range spans beauty tools, nail polish and complexion, eye and lip makeup, priced between $5 for oil blotting sheets to $115 for the All About Eyes Kit.
“Around January, we really found success in [product] bundling. Many of our consumers have gone their lives without products catered toward them, and are learning for the first time to contour or understand blush placement; bundles help take the guesswork out of that,” Fernandez said.