Beyoncé ‘Honored to Give Back’ as She Announces $500,000 Fund for Cosmetology Schools and Salons Nationwide

Beyoncé is fighting back.

As the singer’s long-awaited hair care brand Cécred arrived on Tuesday, her charity BeyGOOD announced a partnership with the brand to support cosmetology school students and local businesses across the country.

The Cécred x BeyGOOD Fund will award $500,000 annually to support beauty schools and salon business grants in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and New Jersey, according to the announcement.

The fund “celebrates the impact professional stylists have on hair health and the critical importance of salon community advocacy,” as it helps “foster talent, promote professionalism and support entrepreneurship within the hair industry” across the country.

“Hairdressers have a huge influence on people in their chairs. They create a sacred space where we can show ourselves how we want and express ourselves through our hair. We are honored to be able to give back to this incredible community,” the fund said in a statement.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling people-interest stories.

Beyoncé and JAY-Z pledge $2 million for arts and creative arts student scholarships at 5 HBCUs

Each cosmetology school in the five major cities has an “inclusive curriculum” and will receive a total of $250,000 to be used in financial aid for student scholarships. Beaver Beauty Academy in Atlanta, Trenz Beauty Academy in Chicago, Universal College of Beauty in Los Angeles, Franklin Institute in Houston and Janas Cosmetology Academy in New Jersey were selected as award winners by the Cécred x BeyGOOD Fund.

To qualify, a student must demonstrate “need due to financial hardship” and be already enrolled or accepted at one of the cosmetology schools. Applications for the scholarship opened on Tuesday and will close on March 20, with recipients announced on April 20.

The remaining $250,000 will be awarded annually to “eligible salon owners” in the same cities, “so they can continue their transformative impact in the community,” the announcement said.

“We understand that running your own business is difficult, whether you rent a booth, run a salon or work out of the home,” the grant description reads. Similarly, an application is required and there must be a demonstrated financial “need” to qualify.

Beyoncé in Warsaw, Poland on June 27, 2023.

Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Other qualifications include that the applicant has been a “licensed barber, hairstylist or cosmetologist” and has been so for at least two years, can show proof of salon ownership or a lease agreement, and has been in business for at least one year.

Five small business grants will be awarded in each of the five cities five times a year, with rolling application cycles. As with the beauty school fund, applications opened on Tuesday and will close on March 20, with the first round of recipients announced on April 20. The following rounds this year will open on May 1, July 1, September 1 and November 1.

Tuesday also marked the official launch of Beyonce’s hair care line, which she said Essence she was inspired by her childhood watching her mother Tina Knowles run a salon in Houston.

“A big part of who I am comes from her salon,” she said. “It’s my foundation – and I think as an artist, a lot of my bold experimentation with hair comes from being inspired by art and sculpture; creativity with braids; inventing new techniques; and exploring ways to maintain hair growth with protective hairstyles and wigs while still feeling fabulous. It all stems from my experiences growing up in my mother’s salon.”

The brand is a “legacy project,” said the 32-time Grammy winner, adding that it’s “the project that’s probably the most rooted in my background. It’s way beyond work. Hair is our vine; it’s our family story.”

Beyoncé’s Cécred.

Courtesy of Cécred

Beyoncé reveals the story behind her shocking 2013 pixie haircut: ‘It was a very big emotional transformation’

Beyoncé, 42, first teased the project on Instagram in May, as she contemplated her “first job” at her mother’s salon.

“I was exposed to so many different types of enterprising women in her salon,” the singer wrote. “I’ve seen firsthand how the ways we nurture and celebrate our hair can directly affect our souls. I’ve watched her heal and serve so many women. Because I’ve learned so much on my hair journey, I’ve always dreamed of continuing her legacy.”

The line was launched with the Foundation collection, a selection of eight products (housed in sculpturally textured bottles) that cleanse, condition and strengthen hair. It’s powered by the brand’s Bioactive Keratin Ferment, described as a “patent-pending technology made from keratin derived from wool,” specifically honey.

In a press release for its debut, the Cécred team describes the collection as “the difference between routine and ritual,” adding that it gives you “the foundation to express your hair in all the ways you feel good.”

The collection includes a deep cleansing (but not stripping) shampoo and scrub ($38), a moisturizing shampoo with hyaluronic acid ($30), a moisturizing deep conditioner with oil and shea butter ($38), a keratin-enriched repair mask ($42), Fermented Rice and Rose Protein Ritual for Strengthening ($52 for four treatments), Moisture Smoothing Lotion ($38), Nourishing 13 Oil Blend Hair Oil ($44), and Ritual Shaking Bowl ($20 ) intended for mixing Ritual protein of fermented rice and rose.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education