Tory Burch Encourages Women to Be Ambitious

In light of International Women’s Day, Tory Burch Foundation launches #EmbraceAmbition, a campaign that aims to encourage women to go for their professional dreams – be it a dream job or business. It also hopes to negate the derogatory stereotype attached to women with ambitions. The star-studded campaign features Reese Whitherspoon, Diane Kruger, Lucy Liu, Jon Hamm and many more.

The campaign is reflective of Tory’s experience as a female entrepreneur. Starting her namesake fashion label in 2004, Forbes named Tory a billionaire in 2013. Despite feud with ex-husband Christopher Burch along the way, Tory continues to develop her fashion empire, now one of the strongest “affordable luxury” labels. In 2009, Tory launched her namesake foundation to support fellow women entrepreneurs.

“In one of my first interviews, a reporter mentioned the word “ambitious,” and I commented that the word annoyed me. A friend of mine said, “You should never shy away from that word.” She was right. I realized that I had bought into the stigma that women shouldn’t be ambitious – that it was unattractive. That creates a harmful double standard that we must overcome in order to achieve equality.”

The campaign note states: “Only four percent of CEOs in Fortune 500 companies are women and, similarly, women hold less than 20 percent of board seats. In government, the numbers are no different. Women make up about 19 percent of Congress and account for less than 10 percent of top national leaders globally.”

To join the campaign, take a digital pledge on EmbraceAmbition.org. In addition, #EmbraceAmbition bracelets and t-shirts are available in selective Tory Burch and Tory Sport boutiques globally as well as online at toryburch.com and torysport.com. One hundred percent of the net proceeds of these products in the United States will benefit the Tory Burch Foundation.