EXCLUSIVE: Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty to Host Fourth Annual Mental Health Summit in L.A.

Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty is hosting its fourth annual Mental Health Summit on May 1 in Los Angeles.

“When I launched Rare Beauty, I wanted to create a brand with a greater meaning and a vision to create a welcoming community that could shape positive conversations around self-acceptance and mental health,” Gomez, founder of Rare Beauty and the Rare Impact Fund, told WWD in an exclusive statement.

“Seeing the impact of initiatives like our Mental Health Summit, which is bringing that vision to life, makes me incredibly proud of the community we’ve created,” she went on.

More than $20 million has been collected to date for the Rare Impact Fund, the brand’s nonprofit affiliate working to expand mental health awareness. With 1 percent of all Rare Beauty sales going to the Rare Impact Fund, the initiative supports 30 mental health organizations in five continents, reaching an annual average of 1.9 million young people. The goal is to raise $100 million.

This year’s summit, being held in downtown L.A., is a one-day event that plans to welcome about 175 guests for interactive conversations around self-acceptance and mental health (similar to the 2024 summit, which was hosted in New York). The lineup includes a closing fireside chat with Jay Shetty, the British life coach and podcaster.

It was in September 2020 that Gomez launched Rare Beauty, though the idea for the brand took shape pre-pandemic, alongside her team that includes chief executive officer Scott Friedman; chief digital officer Mehdi Mehdi; chief product development officer Joyce Kim; chief marketing officer Katie Welch; chief sales officer Kim Magee, and chief impact officer and president of the Rare Impact Fund Elyse Cohen.

“Mental health has emerged as a prominent concern for Gen Z so we are proud to provide a platform like the Rare Beauty Mental Health Summit to address youth mental health,” said Cohen in a statement. “With this event, our goal is to unite young people from across the globe with some of the most influential voices in mental health and education for a day dedicated to encouraging open discussions and reducing the stigma associated with mental health.”