Twenty-three-year-old Amanda Gorman came into mainstream consciousness during Biden’s inauguration as she read her poem “The Hill We Climb.”
Now she is about to take on a much bigger podium, so to speak, as Estée Lauder’s Global Changemaker. She’s more than a model, ambassador, spokesperson, and influencer. Gorman and this step by the beauty conglomerate signal how we are shifting the way we talk about makeup and skincare. It’s not just looking for endorsers. It’s beyond the veneer over the word “relatable.”
The role entails that Gorman will be representing Estée Lauder for ad campaigns and speaking events. She will also be helping the company to create a grant to promote literacy among girls and women called Writing Change. The relationship with Gorman can be renewed as the years go along.
I’m never just lending my body or my face,” Gorman says as reported by The New York Times. “They are getting my spirit, my breath, my brain.. “rather than letting the world tell me what I should be doing…I realized this is my moment to tell the world what it needs to get done.”
She also notes, “I think about what it would mean to me at 5 years old to see a dark skinned woman with a speech impediment as a spokesperson for a beauty brand.”
This is however not the first brand to tap Gorman. In 2018 she was part of the “Smart People Wear Helmut Lang” campaign. Prada got her to speak at a conference about sustainability in 2019.
Amanda is the first US National Youth Poet Laureate.
