More Than A Pretty Face: Liya Kebede
MIMI Features
Written By: Mimi Tsiane
Photo Credits: None
Caption: None
.
She is one of the highest paid models in the world. According to FORBES, Liya Kebede was eleventh highest paid top model in
2007. Not an easy feat in an industry that still celebrates and upholds a traditional standard of beauty; Liya has made a mark in the
fashion industry and an impact in our society through her humaritarian work.
Born and raised in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia the 30 year old was discovered by a film director while attending Lycee Guebre Mariam.
What was to come was a whirlwind of success as she soared to supermodel status. In 2003 she was named the newest face of
Estée Lauder cosmetics; becoming the first person of color to serve as their representative in the company's history.
.
In 2000 Kebede married Ethiopian hedge fund manager Kassy Kebede. Now a mother of two Kebede is a staunch believer and a
proponent for adequate healthcare for women and children, “in a world where giving life is the most wonderful thing a mother can
experience, in the poorest countries it is one of the major causes of death for a woman.”
She was appointed Goodwill Ambassador to the WHO focusing on Maternal, Newborn & Child Health in 2005. Kebede has used her
fame to not only boost her humanitarian efforts but as a platform for her foundation; The Liya Kebede foundation. The Mission of
the Liya Kebede Foundation is to reduce Maternal Newborn and Child mortality and to improve the health and well being of mothers
and children around the world.
.
Her celebrity status has been a catalyst for much of her humanitarian work. She acknowledges simply, "It brings the awareness to a
much a wider audience worldwide. You need somebody to bring it to the front and talk about it.”
MIMI Features
Written By: Mimi Tsiane
Photo Credits: None
Caption: None
.
She is one of the highest paid models in the world. According to FORBES, Liya Kebede was eleventh highest paid top model in
2007. Not an easy feat in an industry that still celebrates and upholds a traditional standard of beauty; Liya has made a mark in the
fashion industry and an impact in our society through her humaritarian work.
Born and raised in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia the 30 year old was discovered by a film director while attending Lycee Guebre Mariam.
What was to come was a whirlwind of success as she soared to supermodel status. In 2003 she was named the newest face of
Estée Lauder cosmetics; becoming the first person of color to serve as their representative in the company's history.
.
In 2000 Kebede married Ethiopian hedge fund manager Kassy Kebede. Now a mother of two Kebede is a staunch believer and a
proponent for adequate healthcare for women and children, “in a world where giving life is the most wonderful thing a mother can
experience, in the poorest countries it is one of the major causes of death for a woman.”
She was appointed Goodwill Ambassador to the WHO focusing on Maternal, Newborn & Child Health in 2005. Kebede has used her
fame to not only boost her humanitarian efforts but as a platform for her foundation; The Liya Kebede foundation. The Mission of
the Liya Kebede Foundation is to reduce Maternal Newborn and Child mortality and to improve the health and well being of mothers
and children around the world.
.
Her celebrity status has been a catalyst for much of her humanitarian work. She acknowledges simply, "It brings the awareness to a
much a wider audience worldwide. You need somebody to bring it to the front and talk about it.”
