Seven Bar Foundation

The pink bars in Seven Bar Foundation's logo represent a "ladder" – an exit strategy out of poverty for women.^[2] The concept is based on the eighth step of Maimonides' Golden Ladder, "To prevent poverty by teaching a trade, setting up a person in business, or in some other way preventing the need of charity."^[3]

Renata Mutis Black has fought poverty in 12 different countries, working with terminally disabled children in Hong Kong, mentally disabled elders in New Zealand, and victims of the 2004 tsunami in India.^[4][5] The events of the 2004 tsunami centralized her vision toward microfinance.

Black and her husband narrowly evaded the destruction of the tsunami when their flight to Thailand was cancelled because of a mechanical failure.^[6] After the disaster, Black immediately went to help rebuild the villages impacted by the catastrophic flooding. During this project, a woman from the region approached her and said, "I know you have money and I don't want it. But why don't you teach me how to make it myself?"^[7] This encounter sparked a new course for Black, who immersed herself in the study of microloans and their impact on impoverished communities with 2006 Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus. Black then applied her training by establishing a grassroots microfinance project in India that exists to this day.^[8]

Having seen the transformative power of microfinance through her program in India. Black redirected the mission of the Seven Bar Foundation. To fund these institutions on a consistent and global basis.^[9] She found that microfinance presents these women. With the tools to create an exit strategy out of poverty and allows them to become self-sufficient.^[10]

I picked women as my vehicle for transformative change because, to put it simply, they are the root of a society from which all else grows. Children's education, the family environment, health care, population growth--these depend on women and the choices they make. I also feel that women, being nurturers, are more likely than males to spend their profits on their children's well-being. Therefore, when you invest in a woman, you help break the cycle of poverty for the next generation.

— Renata M. Black, featured in The Soul of Leadership by Deepak Chopra

Operating on the tagline "empowering women on a G-string rather than a shoestring,"^[14] Lingerie New York was produced by fashion week regular Lynne O'Neill and showcased the latest collections of lingerie designers Atsuko Kudo and Carine Gilson. It was held in October 2010 at NYC's historic landmark Cipriani 42nd Street. Michelle Rodriguez DJed the event and supermodel Veronica Webb. Showcased a "space lace" corset made of injection-molded fiberglass. Designed by Dara Young.^[15] The event featured a performance by the Imaginaerial Entertainment Group. A cirque-style aerial silk act in which eight aerialists constructed a human Y.^[16] Also in attendance were host Sofia Vergara and media and fashion mogul Russell Simmons. Lingerie New York raised over $200,000 in the name of microfinance for women.^[17]

Lingerie Miami took place in front of the Vizcaya Palace in Coral Gables, Florida, on February 7, 2009, showcasing European lingerie designers Agent Provocateur, Fifi Chachnil, and Carine Gilson on the same stage for the first time.^[19] The event was hosted by Eva Longoria, co-hosted by Veronica Webb, DJed by high fashion model Ève Salvail, and featured guest speaker Deepak Chopra.^[20] The event raised over $180,000, funding microloans for 2,233 women, and earned a lot of attention from media.^[23][24]