Values
Values
Our mission statement is simple: look good, do good.
What we believe
The goal of our company has always been using nail polish to support movements we believe are making the world a better place: intersectional feminism, racial justice, immigration rights, climate change action, supporting the LGBTQ+ community, and animal compassion. These big ideas hold space for many issues we believe in fervently, such as stopping voter suppression and putting an end to gun violence.It’s all well and good to say those things but, of course, the question is: How are we putting this into practice? We aim to put ethics first in three primary areas.
Product
We do our best to think through each element of our items. Are they made with ingredients that are safe for users and our folks filling the bottles? Are they cruelty free? Do we have colors that work well on all skin tones?
Giving Back
Claws Out was founded with the goal of supporting community. Giving money to organizations who've been diligently doing the difficult work for years is a priority to us as a company and as people. We do that by assigning each color a cause and donating 20% of its profits. We send money to political campaigns we believe will impact the greater good and to nonprofits in immediate need outside of our regular donations. We donate product to silent auctions and gift bags for activists. And we use the privilege of being business owners to volunteer our time in the community.
Business
The more we grow, the more colors and causes we can add and it is our goal to do so. But that growth cannot come at the cost of the other two areas. We will not use toxic ingredients to pinch pennies, or lower our 20% donation model. We think carefully about the collaborations that reach out to us and if they understand who we are and the things we stand for.
Who We Are
We're a small family business from Portland. Oregon launched in 2017 while the world felt in a dark place and like it needed a big dose of color. We wanted to make people smile while also spreading awareness of the causes we believed in while using something we loved—pretty nail polish.
Eden Dawn
Founder
EDEN DAWN is an award-winning writer, wardrobe stylist, and entrepreneur from Portland, Oregon. She's a beloved local personality, often seen performing at storytelling events, sitting on nonprofit advisory boards, chatting through live television segments, emceeing galas, and hosting her own quarterly series “Fashion in Film” at the historic Hollywood Theater.
Ashod Simonian
Creative Director
ASHOD SIMONIAN is a creative director at North, a Portland-based brand strategy and creative agency; co-owner of Imaginary Authors, a niche perfume house; and author of Real Fun, a book of photography and stories document-ing his decade spent touring the world in various indie rock bands.
Who we donate to
By Color
Matriarchy - Moms Demand Action | Icebreaker - Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) | Liberty – NAACP Legal Defense Fund | Resistance - American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) | Intersectional - Emily's List | Uterus - Planned Parenthood | Nude – Color of Change | Pride – Trevor Project | Hot Rock - Rock & Roll Camp for Girls | Reclaiming My Time - The Cupcake Girls | Notorious - Times Up Legal Defense Fund | Witch Hunt - ProPublica | Cat Lady - Pixie Project | Force of Nature - Environmental Defense Fund | Blue State – Fair Fight | Exhausted Empath – National Alliance on Mental Illness NAMI | Big Hugs – Feeding America | Many more individual donations
Memberships
Contributing Member of the Women's Foundation of Oregon | Contributing Member of The Bus Project | Charter Member of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture | Lifetime Member of the NAACP | Contributing Member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) | Monthly Supporter of the Gender Reveal Podcast Featuring Trans and Nonbinary Artists
Who we volunteer with
Organized Zine Workshop on Journalism for Girls Inc Council Members | Manual Labor for Transition Projects Homeless Shelter | Lobby Day Meetings with Oregon Senators and Reps on Voting Pre-registration for 16-Year-Olds | Purse-o-nality for Girls Inc Annual Fundraiser | Marketing Mentorship for New Avenues for Youth's Dfrntpigeon Line | Hosted Journalism Workshop for Adelante Mujeres Empowerment Day Camp for Latina Teens | Organized Silent Auction Donations for The Bus Project's annual fundraiser | Volunteer Lecturer for Small Business Development Center, Retail and Restaurant groups | Emcee Fundraising Event for Portland Center Stage | Letter Writing Campaign for Votefwd.org
OUR OWN FUNDRAISER
Huddled masses
In 2019 we created our own fundraising event, Huddled Masses. The goal? To celebrate the immigrant and refugee community through installations, first-person stories, and design. 100% of the profits from the event go towards the immigrant and refugee community. Covid sidelined our 2020 plans, but we look forward to reviving it again as soon as we are able through a continuation of installations as these ones we’ve done in the past.