Angelina Jolie is a celebrated actor and activist, but she can now add another title to her CV – social entrepreneur. She is using the proceeds from her jewelry line, Style of Jolie, to fund educational initiatives through Education Partnerships for Children of Conflicts.
In fact, the first school funded by Angelina Jolie jewelry line has already opened. It is located outside Kabul in Afghanistan, in a village with a large population of refugees, and is dedicated to educating 200-300 girls.
Jolie has said that the school in Afghanistan is just the first of many similar schools she hopes to build with the proceeds from Style of Jolie. The collection is designed in conjunction with jeweler Robert Procop and is characterized by the use of statement gemstones cut in a historical tablet shape.
The initial business model of the jewelry line was rather simple. Jolie and Procop would create one-of-a-kind pieces together. Jolie would then wear the jewels in public, and they would subsequently be sold, with the proceeds going towards building schools. This business model is how the first school funded by Angelina Jolie jewelry line was built.
However, to increase the availability of funding, the jewelry collection is now being released to retail stores. The retail version of Style by Jolie was launched this week and will be sold exclusively at Tivol, a jewelry company from Kansas City. The intention is that 100% of the profits will go toward helping children affected by conflicts get an education.
Hopefully this initiative will inspire other highly visible public figures to take advantage of their public platform and creativity to help improve the lives of those less fortunate.
– Caroline Poterio Martinez
Source: Forbes, E! online, Forbes
Photo: PopSugar