CND’s Jan Arnold presented a donation of $184,000 to Lynelle Lynch for the BCL CND Tippi Hedren Nail Scholarship Fund at Cosmoprof North America.

At an invite-only party during Cosmoprof North America, Beauty Changes Lives (BCL) and CND announced the new BCL CND Tippi Hedren Nail Scholarship Fund. Founded to support professional nail education, the Scholarship Fund will be administered starting January 1, 2014 through member schools of the American Association of Cosmetology Schools (AACS).

Actress Hedren is credited with being at the forefront of the Vietnamese nail salon movement. She committed herself to the education of Vietnamese refugees by helping them obtain training in nail care once they arrived in the U.S. Vietnamese Americans now make up approximately half of the nail industry in the U.S. today. CND is honoring Hedren’s commitment to the professional nail industry with this fund in her namesake.

CND, on behalf of the company and its Vietnamese partner distributors, presented a donation of $184,000 to BCL for the scholarship fund. In addition to this initial pledge, CND will continue to raise money for the fund through its distributor partnerships.

“This important program invests in the successful future of the nail professional industry and honors Tippi Hedren’s life-long commitment to the education and empowerment of the women in the nail community,” says CND co-founder Jan Arnold. “We can all feel proud that we have contributed to this growth and success that makes ‘paying it forward’ all the more rewarding.”

The program will fund scholarships for approximately 38-75 students (depending on the school and state requirements) for young, bright, new talent to join the nail industry. In addition, the fund will offer a bridge program to help recipients take the step from student to salon and will offer salon-match benefits.

“We are extremely grateful to Jan Arnold and the CND family for the significant scholarship gift, for enabling BCL to elevate the nail professional career, and for honoring Tippi Hedren, whose passion for the Vietnamese community created a vibrant industry,” says BCL president Lynelle Lynch. “This scholarship, while celebrating diversity, will enable creative and passionate individuals from all ethnicities to enter the rewarding nail profession.”

— Hannah