Above: Loyalty Foundation Founder & CEO, David Neeman with Renauld White.
We wanted to take a moment to honor the passing of our former Advisory Board Member Renauld White who smashed the glass ceiling and led the way for greater diversity on the runways and in magazines.
In 2019 Renauld so graciously shared his time and story as part of our Open Minds Mentorship Program with the kids of the Police Athletic League Teen Program.
He is an absolute legend and pioneer and not just in fashion. Thank you Renauld for your courage, your strength, and your wisdom and most importantly for leaving the world better than you found it.
From the WWD article, "Model and Former Soap Opera Star Renauld White Dies at 80" by Rosemary Feitelberg:
David Neeman of the Loyalty Foundation, an organization that helps underserved communities, described White, a former advisory board member, as "an extraordinary man, so kind, so patient, so thoughtful and a tremendous mentor."
Neeman "vividly remembered" the story White told children in the Open Minds Mentorship program in 2019 about "bursting into Wilhelmina, demanding to be seen, then getting an appointment the next day and how being booked changed his life," Neeman said. "He is an absolute legend and pioneer and not just in fashion."
White once said in an interview that he talked to as many young people as he could, encouraging them to follow their dreams and to aspire to greater things beyond modeling. "Modeling is only a bridge. What are you going to do after modeling is over?" White said, "I had a 30-plus-year career. They don't make those anymore. I encourage them to do amazing things. Take the money, go to school, open up a business, be an entrepreneur and be self-reliant.
Renauld's funeral will be held on July 12th at 11 AM at Whigham Funeral Home in his hometown of Newark, New Jersey.
Read a 2019 interview where Renauld shared his career here.
Below: Renauld's historic November 1979 GQ cover as the magazine's first black model, with David Neeman speaking to NYC youth at the Police Athletic League Teen Program event, and with the students after the talk.
