1992

During the initial phase of the program, pilot projects addressing various issues were developed in San Francisco and Chicago. In each city, the company enlisted the participation of both well-known and emerging artists as well as community organizations and public agencies to shape the projects.

In San Francisco, a group of visual artists was commissioned to create a series of images addressing domestic violence. The images were displayed on nearly 200 billboards/transit shelters throughout the Bay area during National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, October 1992. Concurrently, Liz Claiborne Inc. provided funding for the first centralized 24-hour domestic violence crisis hotline in the community and spearheaded the formation of a volunteer community group dedicated to raising funds and providing ongoing assistance to the San Francisco Domestic Violence Consortium.

In Chicago, Liz Claiborne Inc. selected award-winning author Leah Komaiko to write and illustrate a children's book. With the help of 20 Chicago elementary school children, she created A Million Moms and Mine, about the needs and concerns of working mothers and their children. Proceeds from the sale of the book were donated to Reading Is Fundamental and The Harold Washington Library Center in Chicago, where the collaboration between Komaiko and the children took place.