Renata M. Black

Renata M. Black founded Seven Bar Foundation in 2009 after having studied microfinance under Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus in 2006 and launching a microfinance program in India for over 800 women in 2007. Having experienced Indian culture for two years, Black developed a deep understanding of the respect sari-covered women held for something as intimate as their lingerie With this appreciation, Black returned to the states where she saw the need for a societal paradigm shift - to reposition lingerie as a tool of empowerment as opposed to one of seduction. From 2009 to 2012 she created an awareness platform that redirected the power of lingerie to the empowerment of women. She brought together the top luxury lingerie designers at Lingerie Miami, Lingerie New York, and Lingerie London and generated over 4 billion media impressions with this message. The shows also yielded half a million in microfinance funding, impacting 2,500 women locally and globally. In October of 2012 at Lingerie London, Black launched the for-profit Empowered By You lingerie brand with the ethos – What Empowers You, Empowers Women Everywhere. Empowered By You is a high-tech line of panties, which prides itself on creating the ultimate perfect everyday seamless panty. Its main purpose is not only performance but also to repositions lingerie as a tool for empowerment rather than one of seduction. 20% of net profits are donated to the Seven Bar Foundation, a non-profit organization that empowers women out of poverty and into business via microfinance. It is not just a panty. It is a mission.