Actress Minka Kelly isn’t shy about her passion for empowering women. Through her work with ABLE, a lifestyle brand that inspires women to create their own income, and her partnership with Dove Chocolate, Kelly is working toward a world where impoverished women are no longer dependent on others.
Recently, Kelly teamed up with Dove again to bring awareness to how their chocolate is made—and how they’re helping their female farmers—at their first-ever Chocolate Cocoa Farmer’s Market.
Parade talked with Kelly about how Dove is helping women thrive, her favorite chocolate treat and why her new show, Titans, is different than any other program on television.
Why did you want to partner with Dove again?
Last year, Dove invited me to Ecuador to visit their farms and learn about the entire bean to bar process and how they’re empowering their farmers. I got to learn about the work they do with the women in West Africa with an organization called CARE, which is a nonprofit working to end global poverty. They empower their female farmers by helping them manage their finances and teaching them how to save so they can apply for a microloan to start their own business. That excites me because they’re not just employing female farmers, they’re empowering them so they can sustain their own businesses and provide for their families. It means a lot to me to work with women. I’m a food lover and a cook, and I care about how my food is sourced. Dove Chocolate is so transparent, and they care about sustainability and making sure their farmers have everything they need to thrive on their cocoa farms. Not a lot of us know how chocolate is made in the first place. That’s what’s so fun about the [Chocolate Cocoa] Farmer’s Market—you get to come and visit the farmer’s market and taste the chocolate and learn about everything I got to learn when I went to Ecuador.
