Tory Burch’s Positive Change Award Recognizes What She Is Building Beyond the Runway

Anna Wintour presented the designer with the CFDA honor, recognizing her work expanding access to financing, education, and opportunity for women entrepreneurs.

When Anna Wintour presented Tory Burch with the Positive Change Award at the 2026 CFDA Fashion Awards, the recognition extended beyond the collections that carry Burch’s name. At the November 2 ceremony at New York’s American Museum of Natural History, the designer was recognized for putting her influence to work for other women.

In announcing her selection, the Council of Fashion Designers of America pointed to Burch’s integration of social responsibility into her business and the Tory Burch Foundation’s work supporting women entrepreneurs through financing, education, mentorship, and professional opportunities.

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Those commitments have practical consequences: an entrepreneur securing the money to fulfill a contract, finding guidance through a difficult expansion, or gaining access to people who can help her business grow.

For Women for the Culture, that work belongs in the conversation.

You do not have to be Black to be a woman for the culture. You do have to recognize that influence carries responsibility... and put that understanding into practice. Our commitment to centering Black women includes recognizing people whose actions help expand opportunities for our communities.

Burch’s award offers an opportunity to examine what that looks like beyond the runway.

Financing the opportunity a founder already has

Burch established the Tory Burch Foundation in 2009, creating an organization focused on women’s entrepreneurship. One of its most concrete contributions has been helping business owners obtain financing.

According to an October 2026 report from CFDA, the foundation’s partnership with Bank of America has helped 5,600 entrepreneurs access $100 million in low-interest loans. That figure represents financing facilitated through the partnership, rather than grants or money Burch personally distributed.

For a business owner, access to a loan can determine whether an opportunity becomes revenue.

Beau Wangtrakuldee, founder of protective-equipment company AmorSui, offers one example. In a testimonial published by the foundation, she describes obtaining an interest-free loan after being unable to secure that financing elsewhere. “It enabled me to be able to fulfill a contract…that led to $5 million in business,” she said.

Her account makes the stakes tangible. An entrepreneur can have a customer, a contract, and the ability to deliver, yet still need financing to move forward. Helping close that gap can change what becomes possible for her company.

Directing resources toward women of color

The foundation’s work has also included a Women of Color Grant Program in partnership with Fearless Fund.

Published rules for that program outlined approximately 50 grants of $10,000 and 25 grants of $20,000, representing a planned $1 million in funding for businesses owned by women of color. Unlike loans, those grants did not carry a repayment obligation.

The distinction matters. A founder receiving a grant can put that money toward her business without adding a monthly debt payment.

The program also demonstrates why specificity belongs in conversations about supporting women. Women do not all encounter the same obstacles or have access to the same resources. Directing funding toward women of color gives a broad commitment to inclusion a concrete purpose and a defined group of beneficiaries.

These published rules document a particular grant initiative; they should not be read as an announcement that the program is currently accepting applications.

Making influential networks more accessible

Financing is one part of the foundation’s approach. Its Fellows Program also offers entrepreneurs coaching, advisors, connections to decision-makers, and a community of other founders.

That kind of access can matter when an owner is making decisions about staffing, pricing, financing, or expansion. An experienced advisor can help her assess a risk. An introduction can create a business relationship. Another founder can share knowledge gained through a challenge she is encountering for the first time.

The foundation’s Fellows include Denise Woodard, founder and CEO of Partake, the food company inspired by her daughter’s experience with food allergies. Woodard also founded Black Futures Fellowship, which connects HBCU students with paid internships in the consumer packaged goods food and beverage industry.

Woodard’s achievements belong to her. Her presence in the foundation’s community nevertheless illustrates the kinds of entrepreneurs within its network: women building companies while creating opportunities that extend beyond their own businesses.

Measuring what happens after the introduction

The foundation’s 2025 annual report states that its Fellows contributed $470 million to the economy. It also reports that entrepreneurs in its Fellows community exceed $1 million in annual revenue at ten times the national average for women-owned businesses.

Those are foundation-reported findings. They do not establish that participation alone caused those outcomes, and the entrepreneurs’ own work remains central to their success. They do, however, offer a more concrete way to examine the foundation’s reach than celebrity visibility or attendance at a high-profile event.

Burch’s Positive Change Award brings attention to an important question: What does a woman do with the access she has earned?

In her case, the work includes helping facilitate business loans, supporting targeted grants, and connecting entrepreneurs with expertise and professional networks. Those are specific ways to put influence into motion.

At Women for the Culture, we believe that deserves attention. Culture is shaped by who gets to build, own, employ, and create... and by who uses her position to widen those possibilities for someone else.

Photos courtesy of BFA.