Since 2009, BeautyGap has distributed black and brown dolls to girls in orphanages located in Ghana, Kenya, Haiti, and the Philippines.

Our Story , A letter from the founder

Hello!

Now that you have clicked on this page, you are officially a part of our BeautyGap community! We are a community of supportive women, men, girls, and boys, worldwide, who are committed to supporting the development and self-esteem of girls of color around the world.

So, where did the name come from? In Kenya, a gap between a woman's two front teeth is considered an indicator of beauty, and is known as the "beauty gap". Beauty Gap also refers to the gap in understanding of what constitutes beauty between minority cultures and the Western standard of beauty.

The summer of 2009, I traveled to Ghana to work in their detention center for young women and teach at a local grade school. While interacting with these young people I realized that none of the young girls I worked with owned dolls that looked like themselves. Many of them had baby dolls with blonde hair and blue eyes, because they were donated by people from Western nations. I also would frequent conversations with these young girls in which they would express a desire to look more Western. Skin bleach was popular among the girls, and attempts to manipulate the appearance of ones hair and skin was commonplace.

By providing dolls of color for these young girls to adore, Beauty Gap seeks to promote the affirmation of every child's God-given features in a world where they are not usually celebrated.

Please join us in supporting girls around the world with self-affirming dolls!

Our Mission

To increase self-love and self-awareness among young girls of color.
To provide dolls of color to girls of color who do not have access to such dolls.
To celebrate and affirm a standard of beauty that is unique from the Western standard.

Our Vision

Beauty Gap seeks to promote a self-affirming standard of beauty among girls of color, globally, through the distribution of dolls of color.