What do you give the man who gives so much? For our 10 year anniversary, we know we wanted to surprise John Paul and present him with something unique and special to thank him for his vision and generosity these past 10 years. We worked with local Austin artist Evan Wilson to commission this sculpture of John Paul’s peace sign hand. Evan works out of the Mobile Loaves & Fishes Community Forge — just one of the many projects John Paul and the foundation have helped support over these last 10 years.
PLH x 10 Year Anniversary
January 2021 marks 10 years of us as a family foundation! We created a special page to celebrate with partners about their hard work and impact . Even though we had hoped to have a big party to celebrate, we are so grateful for friends that took the time to send us videos and celebrate with us virtually. We worked with some of our partners to create special limited edition items like PEACE, LOVE & HAPPY bracelets made by maker mums in Kenya with Ubuntu, custom painted bags from the artists who work at Community Works Entrepreneur Hub at Mobile Loaves & Fishes and heritage bean seeds from Grow Appalachia.
There are many ways to measure impact. We enjoy celebrating the stories, products and lives of those we get to invest in every day. Thanks so much for being a part of 10 years of peace, love and happiness!
2020 PLH Awards
Since 2020 has been a little (okay, a lot) different, we are trying something new this year. We looked at our local Austin community and wanted to award those who have done excellent work in the areas of homelessness and job readiness and entrepreneurship, especially in light of the challenges of this year. Some are existing partners, some are new, but all are doing the good and necessary work of peace, love and happiness in a year of so much uncertainty and loss.
We have given each of these organizations grants of $20,000 or more to help them keep their work going or expand their services and support here in Austin for people in need. Thank you so much to everyone — our nonprofit partners, first responders, healthcare workers, delivery people, teachers, parents, day care workers and all of you who put in everyday herculean efforts to keep your family and your community safe and thriving. We look forward to brighter things ahead in 2021, but, for now, let’s celebrate the people and organizations that went above and beyond in 2020:
Multicultural Refugee Coalition
34,500 Masks
John Paul worked with one of his businesses to donate 34,500 masks to our partners Mobile Loaves & Fishes and Chrysalis to protect people affected by homelessness as well as several Native American reservations to help them stop the spread. Together, we can stop the spread and stay safe!
Project Repat/Open Arms
As John Paul is always saying, America Works. When we toured the Austin factory of Open Arms Studio, a project of Multicultural Refugee Coalition, we got to see seamstresses hard at work making upcycled t-shirt quilts. You better believe that John Paul cleaned out his closet, eager to get his own quilt made from shirts that brought back great memories.
Eastside Kings Blues Festival
2020 is the perfect year for the blues. We are longtime supporters of the East Austin-based music festival highlighting local blues legends, and we are so glad the were able to pivot this year for an online event. The mission of Eastside Kings Blues Fest is to preserve and promote the cultural heritage of African American Blues, Jazz, and Gospel. Usually held on 12th Street, it’s one of our favorite events of the year. This virtual event still highlights the amazing talents we have in Austin and gives people the ability to donate directly to musicians.
We worked with festival founder Eddie Stout at the beginning of quarantine to make small grants to musicians affected by the closures of bars and venues due to Covid-19. But, as John Paul says is the intro, the blues will never die. Get a glass of Patrón and settle in to watch world-class artists perform straight from Austin, Texas. We look forward to getting down soon with Ms. Lavelle and Birdlegg, and all the other amazing musical talents that make East Austin proud.
Hand Sanitizer
When covid-19 hit, Paul Mitchell, the company John Paul co-founded in 1980, quickly moved to support and protect salon owners and hairdressers while re-directing manufacturing to make essential items. We worked with leaders in the Navajo Nation and through their organizations Dezbah’s Elders and Kids, Divest Invest Protect and Hózhó2O to get hand sanitizer directly to people of the Navajo Nation. Hand washing is critical to stop the spread of coronavirus, but water is often hard to come by on Native lands. We hope this small donation has big impact and helps keep people safe.
Some of the most valuable work we do is simply connecting people to each other, whether that’s a business looking to donate product, a person wanting to volunteer or two people with a similar vision of how to transform their community. Money is so important to achieving goals, but there is nothing quite as inspiring and hopeful as the good work of people and local leaders looking out for their communities. As John Paul says, it will take we the people helping each other out to shift the energy on this planet. We are grateful for the leadership and dedication of these Navajo leaders as well as the generosity of companies like Paul Mitchell.
Inc. Magazine Spotting Opportunities and Beating Adversity
John Paul was a guest on Inc. Magazine’s Real Talk Business Reboot talking about staying positive, giving back and how to steel your business for tough times. His main takeaway from this, in our opinion, was to stay positive and to focus on growing yourself and connecting with others during these times.
If you only have a little bit of time, Inc. summarized John Paul DeJoria's 4 Tips for Beating Adversity.
If you have an hour, we encourage you to click the image below for the full video!
John Paul on Graham Bensinger
John Paul joined Graham Bensinger on his show In Depth to talk about what his life, businesses and philanthropy looks like during covid-19.
Another week of meal deliveries
Our team made, packed and delivered more meals to healthcare workers today. THANK YOU to essential workers and to UT Health Austin for making this possible!
