Guiding Principles

A Culture of Giving

Our culture of giving and strong commitment to service can be traced to the Lauder family. Mrs. Estée Lauder believed that “we are only as strong as the communities we work in.”

The Lauder family’s first philanthropic endeavor was the creation of new and improved play areas for children in New York City’s Central Park in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The arts, education, health and numerous other causes received their support throughout the years and each living member of the Lauder family remains active in charitable causes today.

The Lauder family’s renowned philanthropic efforts are separate from The Company’s corporate and brand cause-related activities. Yet, through their leadership and generosity of spirit they have instilled humanitarian values into the fabric of The Estée Lauder Companies.

It is not by chance that some of today’s most compassionate beauty brands found a home with The Estée Lauder Companies: from Aveda, whose founder – the late Horst Rechelbacher – a pioneer of holistic beauty, and a champion of environmental responsibility, is credited with launching the market for natural cosmetics in the U.S.; to M·A·C, whose co-founders Frank Angelo and Frank Toksan along with their employees committed to addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic early on; to Bobbi Brown, who has personally exhibited an ongoing dedication to girls education and women’s empowerment.

“Businesses have more opportunities than ever before to create meaningful change and to offer both measurable business and societal value, " says Nancy Mahon, Senior Vice President, Global Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability. "We aim to do good in the world and to do good by our brands. We believe that both elements must exist in order for corporate citizenship programs to thrive. We've developed a proven formula that supports both.”

Each of our brands, with their unique identity and essence, has the ability to identify and develop an authentic citizenship program that’s right for them. And across the organization, we have multi-year corporate-wide initiatives that address global themes that are highly relevant to our consumers – such as The Breast Cancer Campaign and girls’ education – with a focus on scale and impact. Our employees are highly engaged in volunteerism and committed to making a difference in local communities.