Paris Hilton has launched a nationwide initiative to support female small-business owners affected by disasters, expanding her philanthropic efforts that began after the Los Angeles fires. The pop culture icon and entrepreneur is personally donating $350,000 to kick-start the Back in Business Recovery Fund, aiming to raise at least $1 million by the end of March.
“Women-owned businesses are really the heart of so many of these communities,” Hilton told The Associated Press. “I want to be able to lift up and support them, shine a light on them and really make a difference in their lives.” The fund is a partnership between Hilton's social impact organisation, 11:11 Media Impact, and GoFundMe.org, which will contribute $100,000.
The initiative builds on a previous programme that deployed over $1 million in cash grants to 50 women-owned small businesses after the LA fires, which destroyed Hilton’s own Malibu home. The initial grants of up to $25,000 helped businesses such as child care centres, bakeries, and salons cover rent, payroll, and rebuilding costs. A year on, 90 per cent of these grantees remain operational, according to the Pasadena Women's Business Center.
Among the beneficiaries was Renata Ortega, owner of Orla Floral Studio, whose home and studio were obliterated. The grant enabled her to pay the deposit on a new studio and purchase a floral cooler. Today, she is “booked and busy,” having retained staff and planning to hire another employee. “It directly went into getting us back into business, but actually back and better than ever,” she said.
Hilton also supported grantees as a customer, wearing a catsuit from one shop at Coachella and hiring other vendors for her events. These personal connections inspired her to “think bigger” about a national initiative. “For so much of my career, I’ve been underestimated,” said Hilton. “I’ve worked very hard to show people that there’s much more to me.”
The Back in Business Recovery Fund will distribute unrestricted grants, partnering with local women’s business centres across the US. Despite 14.5 million women-owned businesses in the US, women receive disproportionately less investment than men. Rebecca Grone, director of 11:11 Media Impact, noted: “They are the most undercapitalised and underresourced, and particularly if primary caregiving responsibilities are falling on them too, sometimes that leads to increased recovery burden.”
