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The Jimmy Choo Foundation

The Jimmy Choo Foundation is a non-profit charitable trust that empowers women by helping them to lead healthier and safer lives.

Launching in 2011, in conjunction with the 15th Anniversary of the company’s inception, The Jimmy Choo Foundation was established following the ideals of Jimmy Choo founder and Chief Creative Officer, Tamara Mellon, OBE. As a mother and an entrepreneur, Tamara feels keenly the need to provide women the opportunity to develop the confidence and optimism to dream and achieve. "I feel extremely lucky to have been born into a world where I had access to good healthcare, and was free from the threat of persecution. I want to help women to feel safe and healthy, so they can feel strong and confident."

"One of the reasons for the Jimmy Choo Foundation," continues Tamara, "is that there’s growing recognition that if we are to be successful in progressing economically, morally and philosophically, we need to educate and empower women and bring them into the economy." According to the UN Development Programme, (UNDP), there is clear evidence that women’s empowerment helps raise economic productivity and reduce infant mortality. It contributes to improved health and nutrition and increases the chances of education for the next generation. Simply put, progress is achieved through women. The agenda for empowering women via the Jimmy Choo Foundation will focus on addressing some of the most egregious abuses afflicting women globally: sex trafficking and forced prostitution, gender-based violence, maternal health, gender discrimination and equal pay for women.

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The agenda for empowering women via the Jimmy Choo Foundation will focus on addressing some of the most egregious abuses afflicting women globally: sex trafficking and forced prostitution, gender-based violence, maternal health, gender discrimination and equal pay for women.

Jimmy Choo has a history of activism and fundraising for women’s issues. In 2005, the company partnered with the Elton John AIDS Foundation to raise funds for the Simelela Rape Centre in South Africa. In a bold fundraising effort, Tamara Mellon tapped inspiring women and asked them to sit for eminent female fashion photographers and pose wearing nothing but Jimmy Choo shoes and Cartier jewellery. These photos were auctioned off and the proceeds were used to provide initial funding for Simelela.

Four years later, the company launched a limited edition collection of shoes and bags in a signature punk print, and sold this capsule collection as Project PEP, again supporting the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Twenty-five percent of sales from this collection were donated to the Simelela Rape Centre to fund the administering of HIV preventative PEP medication. Between these initiatives, more than $3.5 million has been raised by Jimmy Choo to support women in Africa affected by HIV.

The Jimmy Choo Foundation will work with partners who share the same values and mission, and meet the criteria for responsible governance.