Management Today awards CEO Angela Cretu Trailblazer of the Year

We’re thrilled to announce that our CEO Angela Cretu has been recognised as Trailblazer of the Year by Management Today in their 2022 awards, in recognition of Angela and Avon’s leadership in pioneering social impact through our business model, supporting women’s causes and transforming Avon to support our communities’ changing needs.

Purpose at heart

Since 2004, with the Avon Foundation for Women, we've contributed more than US$80 million globally to work to end gender-based violence, which affects 1 in 3 women.

Further, as part of our wider #SpeakOut movement, under Angela’s leadership we launched a Gender-Based Violence Protocol and training for associates, setting out how we support employees experiencing abuse, including signposting support services and access to paid leave.

Angela is also passionate about our other core cause, supporting women affected by breast cancer and educating about the disease. One in eight women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime; however with early detection, it has a survival rate of 90%. Over the last three decades, with the Avon Foundation for Women, we’ve donated more than $939 million to breast cancer causes, educating 180 million people about the disease, and funding breast health screening for over 16.4 million women.

For Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October 2021, we used our digital retail presence to raise breast health awareness, including signposting to support from UK charity partner, Coppafeel!

To mark our 135th birthday in September 2021, Angela was instrumental in our making a $1.35 million pledge to women’s causes around the world, commemorating our long-standing work championing women and adding to the $1.1 billion that we’ve already raised and donated.

Empowering entrepreneurs

Our research throughout the pandemic has suggested that over half of women would prefer to work for themselves to gain the flexibility that their employers are still not offering[1]. Economic empowerment is hard-wired into our business KPIs – if a Rep’s beauty business grows, our business grows.

In September 2021, we launched Avon Rewards, a new compensation model developed in collaboration with Representatives, creating an even more rewarding and fulfilling experience with a truly compelling earnings opportunity, starting from the first sale of any product.

This provides a more personalised, high touch approach to the needs of Representatives, whether they are new to Avon and require greater support, would like to grow their business or are a sales leader looking to inspire their team.

Today, we sell three lipsticks ever second around the world and sells seven bottles of fragrance every second – more than any other brand. By supporting women’s entrepreneurship as well as our purpose work, together we’re showing that a better world for women is a better world for all.

[1] Research conducted by Censuswide and commissioned by Avon on 2,013 women between 30th June – 1st July 2021. Censuswide abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society which is based on the ESOMAR principles.