Pinterest has announced the next phase of its Community Rebuild program, which it first launched in February to help underrepresented business owners who have been hit hardest by the pandemic.
Pinterest is renaming the program 'Pinterest Elevates' that better reflects the goals of the initiative.
As Pinterest puts it:

The program gives culturally responsive training and ad dollars credit that will impact the business owners and entrepreneurs of color, businesses owned by people with a disability and members of the LGBTQ+ community positively. Moreover, it supports our larger goal to make Pinterest more diverse and inclusive where underrepresented businesses can truly grow.

To be noted, participants in Pinterest Elevates will train, get ad credits to boost their performance inside the app, and have the ability to attend virtual workshops on branding, creative strategy, and campaign management.

All participants also receive a personal coach, who will help them toward individual business goals, and the brands will also be included in a specific Pinterest Elevates showcase in the application.
It is an important initiative, with several research reports indicating that the pandemic's more significant impacts are those on businesses owned by individuals from minority communities.

Indeed, according to Facebook's State of Small Business report, businesses in majority-minority neighborhoods have seen far higher closure rates (36% versus 22%), among other impacts. That could lead to longer-term societal trends, increasing economic disparity, and as such, it's important that we look to support such businesses where possible, with a view to helping them stay in operation for the long haul.

For example, after all the questions that former employees raised last year regarding the company culture, Pinterest itself has been engaged on the improvement of its own approach to diversity and representation, both internally and externally.

The Pinterest Elevates program is part of this, while Pinterest works on other features and tools that will help better inclusion, maximize opportunity, and functionality for more community groups.