Last year was a tough one for Karen Sugar and her efforts to raise money for the , a nonprofit organization that she started in 2007 to help women in northern Uganda reclaim their lives after suffering through 25 years of violence and abuse at the hands of insurgents from the .
The Denver resident’s professional life has focused on women’s equality and justice and included five years working at a homeless shelter in Atlanta and two stints as a community organizer for NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado. She had no way of knowing, when she logged on to her laptop the evening of Dec. 9, that the fund’s fortunes were about to change.
In a very big way.
There on the screen was an e-mail from Wende Zomnir, co-founder of the cosmetics company , saying that after a yearlong search, WGEF was one of three finalists for , a five-year, $3 million promotion fronted by The lead singer in the rock band No Doubt, Stefani has also been a judge on “The Voice.”
In the program’s first year, Zomnir wrote, WGEF would be the first of several organizations to receive 100 percentage of all sales from , an eyeshadow primer that costs $20 a tube.
“I just about fell out of my chair,” Sugar recalls.
Sugar started the fund while she was completing a master’s degree in political science at the University of Colorado Denver. It operates on an annual budget of $160,000 and has made about 4,000 micro-loans averaging $60 each. She talked about her organization and its progress during a recent interview at her Denver home. Here is an edited version of the conversation.
Q:Weren’t you afraid this might be some sort of scam?
A: I have two daughters (Nina, 23, is a first-year law student at the University of San Diego; Jordan, 26, is on U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet’s staff in Washington, D.C.) so I know about Urban Decay. But I knew nothing about the promotion. It wasn’t something I had applied for; the offer came out of the blue. But from the specific questions and other information, I knew it was legit — not some crazy scheme.
Q:So it was a very welcome contact?
A: It couldn’t have come at a better time. At that point, we were really struggling. We hadn’t made budget for the previous three years, and we’d just held a fundraiser that wasn’t wildly successful. I read that e-mail, and was literally in tears.
Q:So you didn’t hesitate to respond?
A: Correct. I answered every question, dotted every “i” and crossed every “t.” We had a Skype call a couple of days later that was very emotional. I described how many of our clients had been kidnapped by the insurgents and been horribly mistreated, how they had been abducted as children and forced to be sex slaves, and how many of them contracted HIV. I told them how the fund was helping the women reclaim their lives and how we don’t try to make them follow paths we think they should take. Our clients — we never, ever describe them as victims — know where they want to go in terms of jobs and literacy and health care … we give them the opportunity to rebuild and retool.
Q: Have you any idea how Urban Decay found you?
A: Probably through a Google search. We have a great website and a great story.
Q:How long before you found out the WGEF had been chosen?
A: At the end of this very emotional video conversation with some very smart and welcoming women who really got it, they said: “OK, it’s you. The Women’s Global Empowerment Fund is our winner.”
Q:And then …?
A: The ball really started rolling. A website was created, and then in February I was invited to have lunch at Urban Decay headquarters in Newport Beach, Calif. There was makeup and fun girl stuff everywhere. The office was artsy and very cool. I kept thinking that I needed to pinch myself, that this wasn’t happening, that it wasn’t real.
Q:Did you know from the start that you’d be working with Gwen Stefani?
A: No. It wasn’t ’til the end of February when I went back to Southern California for a photo shoot. I was standing there in a dressing room and in (she) walks, carrying her baby … who looks exactly like her husband, .
Q:How did she look?
A: Low-key — Adidas shoes, jeans, leather jacket — but absolutely professional. She’s very pretty, even without makeup. She said she was honored to be there with me and that she was very happy to be doing this. Mostly, though, we talked about mom stuff.
Q:Do you know why she was picked as the face of The Ultraviolet Edge?
A: She and Wende go way back. They’re both Orange County girls with entrepreneurial spirits and a commitment to empowering women. They both get what the Women’s Global Empowerment Fund is doing.
Q:Has the fund received any money yet? If so, what have you done with it?
A: We have been given $150,000, which has enabled us to hire two new people for our office in Gulu, Uganda, and purchase the technology to make our program operate more efficiently. It also is enabling us to grant 1,400 microloans this year and increase the number of women in our literacy classes from 100 to 250, and to offer a meal at each class. Which is really big.
Q:Will more money be forthcoming?
A: I think so, but I don’t know how much. Enigma has already sold out online through the Ultraviolet Edge website, but is available at Sephora and Ulta stores. It can also be ordered via the Sephora, Ulta, Macy’s and Nordstrom websites.
Q:Is there any downside?
A: We are mindful of both the opportunity and the challenge this gift presents. Urban Decay is giving us a chance to build capacity, but it is a one-time thing. We will continue to be community-funded by $50 and $100 donations, foundation grants and fundraising events. What the money has done is create a whole new set of possibilities, and I’m all about creating possibilities.
Q:What’s next for you, in terms of the Ultraviolet Edge?
A: In July I will speak at Urban Decay’s international sales meeting, which will give me the opportunity to tell our story to their management, retailers and representatives from the parent company, L’Oreal.
Q:And in terms of the WGEF?
A: In June, I will be in Gulu to train women in citizen journalism in preparation for them to do political coverage of the upcoming elections. Seven of our women are running for office. Also this year, we will be starting a similar program in Haiti.
Q:Any final thoughts?
A: Perhaps Urban Decay could have gotten a bigger bang by selecting a nonprofit that was larger or had more name recognition. But they weren’t looking to get their name out there. They were looking for a way to make a meaningful difference for women in areas ranging from gender discrimination to raising healthy kids, and they liked the way we portray our women: not as victims, needy or helpless but as fully functional, multidimensional human beings where tragedy is only one part of their life.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314, jdavidson@ denverpost.com or twitter.com/ joannedavidson
Women’s Global Empowerment Fund spring luncheon
When: May 6, 11:30-1 p.m.
Where: RedLine, 2350 Arapahoe St.
Speakers: WGEF client Aloyojok Prisca and Chenaya Devine Milbourne, Urban Decay’s global marketing coordinator
Tickets: $60,at wgefund.org
