September 29, 2025
SheaMoisture marks the 10th anniversary of its Dartmouth Fellowship program.
As SheaMoisture marks the 10th anniversary of its Dartmouth Fellowship program, the company has partnered with Aurora James’ Fifteen Percent Pledge to expand both access and opportunity for businesses owned by Black women. For its 2025 cohort, 20 women will be selected to participate sometime after the application deadline on Oct. 10.
The 2025 cohort will include 10 entrepreneurs chosen through an open application process and 10 who are handpicked by the Fifteen Percent Pledge.
Per the 15 Percent Pledge’s website, James, a Toronto native and fashion designer, founded her nonprofit advocacy organization in 2020 as a way to assist in “closing the racial wealth gap by partnering with retailers to diversify their shelves and commit 15 percent of their purchasing power to Black-owned businesses.”
James’s organization has, to date, partnered with more than 30 major companies, companies like Macy’s, Nordstrom, Sephora, and Ulta Beauty, to name a few. By 2030, the organization aims to generate $1.4 trillion in wealth for Black entrepreneurs and increase Black business representation to 14.6%.
According to The Grio, the Dartmouth Fellowship, named for the institution that houses it, Dartmouth College, has supported more than 100 fellows over the course of its lifetime, providing them with an avenue to ease $400,000 in tuition and fees while also giving them an average of a 6% increase and a 14.3% revenue growth.
Initially, the fellowship was created in partnership with the university’s Tuck Executive Education. The intention behind this new partnership is to help underresourced businesses expand and scale as they serve Black communities.
The program will run from Dec. 7-12 in Hanover, New Hampshire, where the selected fellows will participate in Dartmouth College’s program, entitled “Building a Successful Business,” where they will explore topics like financing and cash flow management, as well as marketing strategy and performance analysis, in depth.
“We take immense pride in the achievements of the SheaMoisture Dartmouth Fellowship over the past decade, staying true to our brand DNA of supporting our community and empowering entrepreneurs,” said SheaMoisture Chief Brand Officer Obinna Keke in a statement. “In today’s challenging economic climate, supporting small businesses is more important than ever. With this context, for the 10th anniversary of the Dartmouth Fellowship, we have strengthened the impact of the program by partnering with industry trailblazer Aurora James and Fifteen Percent Pledge, to combine resources, expertise, and networks to expand our reach and support of entrepreneurs.”
James, in her own statement, noted that although the funding format is new for her organization, she is looking forward to helping provide a network to the cohort that will benefit from the partnership between Dartmouth, SheaMoisture, and her company.
“We are absolutely thrilled to partner with SheaMoisture for the tenth year of its Dartmouth Fellowship,” James said. “This partnership is a brand new format for us, and an exciting step forward in our mission to expand opportunities for emerging businesses. By aligning our efforts with SheaMoisture and Dartmouth, we can provide deserving founders with access to educational resources and a network of peers that will sustain their growth for years to come.”
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