New York: Jewellery brand Pandora has launched a new initiative that it says will celebrate the selfless work women do within their communities and around the world to improve the livelihood of women and children. Called the Pandora Hearts of Today, the program will give the brand the opportunity to support a variety of women-focused charitable programs.

To help identify the women with the strongest and most inspiring stories, Pandora has assembled a board of five female leaders who are involved in philanthropic work. They are: human rights advocate Penny Abeywardena, Emmy Award-winning journalist Shaun Robinson, philanthropist June Sarpong, sociologist and author Dr. Pepper Schwartz and Andrea Alvey, member of Pandora A/S board of directors.

“Pandora has always been very committed to charitable efforts such as breast cancer awareness, but through Pandora Hearts of Today, we are now able to financially support other causes and issues that are equally important to women and also mean a lot to our consumers,” said Alvey.

Focusing on health and well-being, community development, and professional and social empowerment, the jurors will narrow down the entries to 20 semi-finalists. Eight finalists who are actively working to initiate positive changes will be selected by the public through online voting. Each of the eight women will receive a $25,000 donation to help the organization they are working with achieve its goals.