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, with a goal 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 businesses after the LA fires, which destroyed Hilton's Malibu home. The initial grants, up to $25,000, were distributed to businesses including childcare centres, bakeries, bookshops, and dance studios damaged by the Eaton fire. A year on, 90 per cent of grantees remain operational, according to the Pasadena Women's Business Center.
Among the beneficiaries was Renata Ortega, who ran her floral design company, Orla Floral Studio, from a converted garage next to her Altadena home. The fires obliterated her house and studio. "Nothing prepares you for that amount of loss," she told the Associated Press. The grant enabled her to pay the deposit on a new studio and purchase a floral cooler. Today, Orla Floral is "booked and busy," she said, having retained her staff and planning to hire another employee.
Hilton's engagement extended beyond financial aid; she also supported grantees as a customer, wearing a catsuit from the apparel shop Crop It Like It’s Hot at Coachella and hiring vendors like Carmela Ice Cream for her own 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."
