Paris Hilton launches recovery fund for women business owners after disasters

Paris Hilton Launches $1 Million Fund to Support Women Entrepreneurs Affected by Disasters

Pop culture icon and entrepreneur Paris Hilton has unveiled a nationwide initiative to support female small business owners impacted by disasters, expanding her philanthropic efforts beyond Los Angeles. Announced Monday, the Back in Business Recovery Fund aims to raise at least $1 million by the end of March, with Hilton personally contributing $350,000 to kickstart the program.

“Women-owned businesses are really the heart of so many of these communities,” Hilton told The Associated Press. “I want to be able to lift up and support them, shine a light on them and really make a difference in their lives.”

The initiative is a partnership between Hilton’s social impact organization 11:11 Media Impact and GoFundMe.org, the philanthropic arm of the fundraising platform, which is contributing $100,000 toward the launch.

This national expansion builds on Hilton’s previous work following the 2025 Los Angeles fires, where she and her partners deployed over $1 million in cash grants to 50 women-owned small businesses. Hilton’s own personal experience losing her Malibu home in the fires became a catalyst for her broader vision.

“It was very emotional,” Hilton said, explaining how the loss of her family home prompted her to think about mothers who had lost not just their houses but their livelihoods as well.

The LA program provided grants of up to $25,000 to various small businesses—including childcare centers, bakeries, bookshops, dance studios, and salons—devastated by the Eaton fire that hit Altadena particularly hard. The funds helped cover essential expenses like rent, payroll, equipment replacement, and rebuilding costs. One year later, according to the Pasadena Women’s Business Center, 90% of those businesses remain operational.

Among the beneficiaries was Renata Ortega, who ran her floral design company, Orla Floral Studio, from a converted garage adjacent to her Altadena home. The fire destroyed both her house and studio, including all her floral and event equipment.

“Nothing prepares you for that amount of loss,” Ortega told the AP. “I didn’t think I was going to be able to get back on my feet because it took me years to be able to come up with the inventory I had.”

The grant enabled Ortega to secure a new studio space and purchase a vital floral cooler. Today, Orla Floral is “booked and busy,” with plans to expand staff. Ortega credits the grant not just with her business recovery but with its advancement.

“It directly went into getting us back into business, but actually back and better than ever,” she said. The support also provided crucial emotional encouragement during a challenging time.

Hilton didn’t stop at financial assistance—she became a customer of many grantees, wearing apparel from Crop It Like It’s Hot at Coachella and hiring food vendors like Carmela Ice Cream and Hot Shrimp Mami for her own events. These relationships inspired her to think bigger about creating a national initiative.

Despite being a descendant of hotel magnate Conrad N. Hilton, Paris has faced her own challenges as a woman in business. “For so much of my career, I’ve been underestimated,” Hilton said. “I’ve worked very hard to show people that there’s much more to me.”

Women business owners in America continue to face significant barriers to success. While women own approximately 14.5 million businesses in the U.S.—about 39% of all businesses according to Wells Fargo—they receive disproportionately less investment than men through venture capital and loan financing.

“They are the most undercapitalized and underresourced, and particularly if primary caregiving responsibilities are falling on them too, sometimes that leads to increased recovery burden,” explained Rebecca Grone, director of 11:11 Media Impact.

Like the LA program, the new nationwide fund will distribute unrestricted grants in partnership with some of the 150 women’s business centers across the U.S. Amanda Brown Lierman, executive director of GoFundMe.org, emphasized that this collaborative approach will help identify affected women quickly and provide them access to both financial support and a community of business owners facing similar challenges.

The impact of saving these businesses extends beyond individual owners. “You don’t want to come back if the community isn’t thriving, so as folks are rebuilding their homes, the things that are familiar and make a community feel like home are equally as crucial,” Grone said.

To highlight the initiative’s importance, Hilton has released a YouTube series called “Back in Business” featuring some of the LA business owners. Several grantees, including Ortega, joined Hilton Monday afternoon to ring the New York Stock Exchange closing bell, commemorating International Women’s Day.

For Hilton, the moment represents one of her proudest achievements, “showing the power of women when they come together.”