On the opening night of its 2024 Annual Meeting, the Personal Care Products Council (PCPC) held an award ceremony announcing its recipients for this year’s Madam C.J. Walker Award for Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) recipients.
As detailed in the organization’s press release, the Award “recognizes individuals in the beauty and personal care products industry who demonstrate an outstanding commitment to DEI through strong leadership and sustained efforts with a focus on workplace culture, program and policies, or through external engagement with consumers and communities,” and it “honors industry pioneer Madam C.J. Walker who started her hair care business at the turn of the century, during a time when women of color had few rights and little opportunity.”
During the ceremony, the PCPC Madam Walker Selection Committee honored two recipients for this year’s award, one in the entrepreneur category, and the other in the corporate category. This year’s entrepreneur winner is Mielle Organics CEO & founder Michelle Rodriguez, and this year’s corporate winner is Kenvue’s US president of Brand Growth Michelle Wang Goodridge.
About the winners
As detailed on the company’s website, Rodriguez founded Mielle Organics in 2014 with the launch of its Advanced Hair Formula. Since that time, the company has “expanded to ten collections under Monique’s direction, including products for skin and children,” and its products have “been distributed in more than 87 countries and can be found in more than 100,000 stores across the U.S. in retailers such as Sally Beauty, Target, CVS, Walgreens, Kroger, JC Penny, and Walmart.”
Rodriguez’s achievements include becoming “the first black woman to raise a non-controlling nine-figure investment in a deal with Berkshire Partners” in 2021, the website continues, as well as establishing the brand’s More Than A Strand program, which “aims to empower communities and women of color through strengthening relationships between mothers and daughters across the United States, Caribbean and Africa.”
Upon receiving the PCPC Madam C.J. Walker award, Rodriguez shared that she is honored, because “like Madam C.J. Walker, I also started our company from my kitchen, and as Mielle approaches its 10-year milestone, I am proud to reflect on our accomplishments and know that the historic things we’ve done with Mielle Organics will continue to open the door for other Black women to do the same,” stated the PCPC press release.
She added that “I stand on the shoulders of Madam C.J. Walker and aim to continue breaking glass ceilings and setting the trajectory for Black female entrepreneurs and business leaders.”
Wang Goodridge has held an extensive career in the personal care products industry at Johnson & Johnson and most recently serves at Kenvue as the US president of Brand Growth. In her experience, she has ensured that “through her work, brands are collectively advocating and investing in equitable access to everyday care for all consumers,” said the PCPC press release.
The release further identified Wang Goodridge as “an agent of change and serving as a beacon in the industry.” Regarding the award win, she shared that “accepting this award is not a reflection of my efforts alone but a celebration of our collective commitment to diversity and inclusion as an industry.” She added that “together, we can build lasting positive change for people and communities around the world.”
