This 4-year-old with Down Syndrome is starring in an important back-to-school campaign
At only 4-years-old, Cora Slocum is already making an incredibly important impact on the advertising world. Right now Cora is featured in California-based footwear brand Livie & Luca‘s back-to-school campaign for fall 2015 entitled #ImGoingBackToSchoolToo. The campaign highlights and encourages inclusiveness for differently-abled children. Cora is one of several children recruited from the Bay Area to be a part of this amazing and empowering ad campaign.
“During the photo shoot, you could tell Cora was born to shine in front of the camera,” Livie & Luca brand designer Brittany Suzuki told The Mighty. “. . . Her contagious joy filled the room. We have the opportunity to change the way media portrays beauty and hope to have kids like Cora feel seen and know their abilities are limitless.”
The campaign is a result of Livie & Luca partnering with Changing the Face of Beauty, a nonprofit that aims to normalize representation of differently-abled people in the media. “Back to school is such a critical time for kids, and it is important to Changing the Face of Beauty that companies see the 13% of kids that happen to be going back to school with a disability,” Katie Driscoll, president and founder of Changing the Face of Beauty, explained to Mashable.
Cora’s parents are totally on board with her new amazing career jumpstart — not only for their daughter’s happiness, but for the amazing cause. “If by having her picture out there kind of changes people’s minds and perceptions and stereotypes, then I think that’s. . . a good move in the right direction,” Cora’s mother, Kerri Slocum, told ABC News.
Supporters have been tweeting and posting on social media using the hashtag #ImGoingBackToSchoolToo, expressing their support for the representation of differently-abled kids in advertising and the media — particularly in back-to-school campaigns where they’re often left out.
According to the Changing the Face of Beauty, they has helped over 100 companies change their advertising campaigns to be more inclusive, and were recently asked to provide 10 models for a runway show involving the Gap and Ellen Degeneres. “I believe globally we’re changing the way people look at models as well as people with differences,” Driscoll told The Mighty, “and that makes me so very happy.”
It makes us so very happy, too. What an amazing cause — inclusiveness in advertising and media is so, so essential for people of all abilities. Want to help out? You can tweet using the hashtag #ImGoingBackToSchoolToo to raise awareness, or you can make a donation to Changing The Face Of Beauty — Livie & Luca is matching any donations made on their website.
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(Images via Twitter, Instagram)
