Good morning! Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is not running to be Canada's next prime minister, DA Fani Willis appeals her disqualification from Trump election-interference case, and female founders offer aid to Los Angeles fire victims.
- How to help. After wildfires burned 62 square miles and 12,000 structures in southern California, killing at least 16 people and displacing thousands of families, people have jumped into action to help. That includes female founders and business leaders eager to offer their time, products, and services to people in need.
This tragedy has impacted so many people, from the now-devastated historically Black community of Altadena—where Black families were able to buy homes amid housing discrimination elsewhere—to the families of the Pacific Palisades. In the Most Powerful Women universe, some familiar names were affected. Bozoma Saint John, the former Netflix, Uber, and Apple exec, shared that her home burned as part of the fires. Halogen Ventures general partner Jesse Draper has been documenting the devastation of her community in the Palisades; her firm's office burned down. Molly Baz, the chef who recently launched a mayonnaise brand and was a voice for pregnant women after her ad campaign for lactation cookies was banned from Times Square, shared that her home is gone. Ali Wyatt, who cofounded the Female Founder Collective with Rebecca Minkoff, also lost her home to the fires.
More than 24,000 people have already applied for government assistance, according to FEMA. There are lots of questions surrounding insurance payouts, with many insurers having canceled policies in recent years.
Meanwhile, those on the ground in Los Angeles and elsewhere are trying to help. The formula brand Bobbie, led by CEO Laura Modi, is offering free baby formula to victims of the fires. Furniture brand Babyletto is providing free cribs. Pantry staples brand Brightland, led by CEO Aishwarya Iyer, is donating its products to anyone cooking for evacuees. The nonprofit Baby2Baby is distributing emergency supplies. Sita Chantramonklasri, the founder of the firm Siam Capital, has organized a donation drive in New York accepting donations through the end of day Monday; Evereden, which makes kids' skincare, the men's hygiene brand W, and Nadya Okamoto's menstrual products brand August were among those to meaningfully contribute.
Big businesses, too, are offering their resources, including Airbnb's offer of free temporary housing, Uber and Lyft's free transporation, and Planet Fitness's open-door policy. You can see more ways businesses are trying to help here and GoFundMe's collection of families in need here—while goods can help people who lost everything, cash is often a more immediate need for families who don't have a place to store replacements for their belongings. And, of course, thousands of people have lost homes and belongings that are irreplaceable.
"This is the house I wanted. The house I prayed for. The house I worked in blood, sweat and tears for...This is the house where I finally felt like I could choose to spend time…when I wanted to and how I wanted to," Saint John wrote on Instagram last week. "This is an unimaginable loss. I grieve with the rest of Los Angeles as it burns."
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
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