BeautyGap’s mission is to celebrate young girls of color. While working and teaching in Ghana, BeautyGap‘s founder, Amber M. Koonce, noticed that the girls all played with Caucasian, blond hair, blue eyed dolls that westerners had donated. Amber was troubled after having “frequent conversations with these young girls in which they would express a desire to look more Western. Skin bleach was popular among the girls, and attempts to manipulate the appearance of ones hair and skin was commonplace.” Since 2009, BeautyGap has distributed over 300 dolls worldwide.