Fine jewelry brand Azra Mehdi Gold Jewelry is expanding its roster of charitable organizations that receive donations from its online store purchases.
The brand launched two years ago with a commitment to creating beautiful, timeless gold jewelry and supporting girls' education. Azra Mehdi fulfills its mission by donating at least 10% of the purchase price of each piece towards girls' education. Until recently, Azra Mehdi had exclusive annual partnerships with organizations like Malala Fund or CamFed (Campaign for Female Education). In response to client feedback, Azra Mehdi is giving clients a choice between three different organizations, each dedicated to the cause of empowering girls.
Beginning April 1, 2022, Azra Mehdi will allow clients to select from three remarkable organizations - Girls, Inc., LA and EmpowHer Institute, both based in Los Angeles, where Azra Mehdi is now based; as well as Camfed, an international organization with a San Francisco presence. All three organizations are dedicated to supporting and empowering girls, especially brown and black girls, from marginalized communities and countries, to obtain the education, skills and opportunities necessary to achieve academic and financial success.
Azra Mehdi's Mission: Empowering Women & Educating Girls One Gold Piece at a Time. "Education transforms," Azra Mehdi founder Azra Mehdi noted. "Education gave me knowledge, financial independence and the confidence to use my voice, not only for myself, but also for the millions of girls who cannot advocate for themselves. Supporting organizations like Girls, Inc. LA, EmpowHer Institute and Camfed allows Azra Mehdi and its clients to be part of these girls' journeys as they gain the tools to ensure that their voices are being heard."
Mehdi, a teenage immigrant from India, is a practicing attorney who turned her lifelong passion for jewelry into a creative/social impact venture, injecting culture and diversity into her unique designs like the AX-MOM and AX-MENA collections, while redefining classics, like the quintessential hoop earrings. Mehdi's foray into designing jewelry began with courses at the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), underscoring her philosophy that education is transformative at any stage of life. Mehdi is the only BIPOC jewelry designer featured in Zales' Designer Spotlight in 2020, less than a year after the launch of Azra Mehdi.
About EmpowHer Institute
The mission of EmpowHer Institute is to empower girls and young women in marginalized communities by giving them the skills necessary through education, training, and mentorship to become confident, college and career ready. Empowher envisions a world where every girl is provided the opportunities and resources she uniquely needs to: embrace the power of her voice; make informed decisions about her body and future; break generational cycles of poverty; contribute to the creation of an equitable society. For more information, please visit EmpowHer Institute.
About Girls, Inc. LA
Girls Inc. of Los Angeles empowers girls to tap into their strengths and amplify their talents to transcend stereotypes and systemic barriers - becoming leaders of today and tomorrow. For 158 years, Girls Inc. has championed girls by providing support and research-based programming to build self-esteem, develop life skills and enable academic achievement. Through our programs and advocacy, hundreds of thousands of girls have successfully broken barriers and positively changed the trajectory of their lives. Girls Inc. of Los Angeles currently serves elementary and middle school-aged girls in South Los Angeles and Venice, providing programming focused on their physical and mental wellness as we emerge from the pandemic. For more information, please visit Girls, Inc. LA.
About CamFed (The Campaign for Female Education)
Camfed works to solve long-term health, economic and social issues in rural Africa by educating girls and investing in their economic independence and leadership once they graduate. Since 1993, millions of children in some of the poorest regions of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana, Tanzania and Malawi have benefited from Camfed's education program.Camfed works in each country by building partnerships with the national government and by utilizing a model of inclusive power-sharing with rural communities. By placing a high degree of responsibility in the hands of the local community, Camfed ensures that its bottom up governance model is founded on transparency and accountability at every level, placing girls and young women in rural Africa, at the center of action and change. For more information, please visit www.camfed.org
Azra Mehdi Jewelry- In the News
