Honest to Goodness: Mentoring our Youth

School is out, but the summer sessions are in! Supported by our social goodness initiatives, The Honest Company is committed to helping families and giving all children their best and healthiest start in life. We care about giving all children access to healthy options and opportunity, which is why we fund and participate in education and skill-training programs for youth to pursue their dreams. This summer, Honest employees are volunteering time in two unique mentorship programs, focused on inspiring youth to dream big and work hard.

Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program

Building on our ongoing partnership with Girls Who Code, we just kicked off a 7-week mentorship that pairs high school girls with more than thirty female employees of Honest. Through our mentoring program with Girls Who Code, we are working to provide our girls with the invaluable opportunity to interact with strong, powerful, and exemplary female role models in the STEM field. Our students are gaining deeper exposure into the professional world and career opportunities that were once deemed impossible or unattainable. As one girl shared after our first career development panel, “This is amazing! I never would have had the opportunity to connect with such established and accomplished executives without this program. I love hearing their stories and advice.”  Mentoring sessions provide a safe and encouraging space for our girls to ask questions and get both academic and career advice. The first few weeks have already been incredibly insightful and a ton of fun — take a look below!

optiMize Summer Fellowship Program

Our support for students doesn’t stop there! We’re also proud to participate in a summer fellowship with optiMize, a student-driven social incubator at the University of Michigan. Fusing the principles of entrepreneurship, social justice, education, innovation, and sustainability, optiMize challenges students to act on their ideas. Students are encouraged to ask themselves, “why not me?” and work past any mental barriers to make their own difference in the world. To help, nine Honest executives will act as virtual consultants for start-up social enterprises, sharing real-life business advice and tactics as students work to enhance their business models and launch plans. As a young (but growing) company, we are excited to share what we’ve learned and can’t wait to see the finished projects.

Through teaming up with organizations like Girls Who Code and optiMize, we hope more young people will be able to pursue their passions and develop more solutions for healthy lives. These kids are our future — we want them to be eager, inspired, and equipped to take the lead. We will be tracking and sharing their progress, so stay tuned!