Dove wants to give $5,000 to dads who don’t have access to paid paternity leave

Alexis Ohanian is Serena Williams’ husband, little Olympia’s dad, and an outspoken advocate for fathers taking parental leave. In a recent op-ed the venture capitalist said taking parental leave was one of the most important decisions he’d ever made.

Now he’s standing with Dove as the company launches The Pledge for Paternity Leave, asking fathers to pledge to actually take their leave if it’s available, and asking allies and businesses to advocate for paid parental leave policies. But Dove isn’t just collecting signatures. It’s also giving $5,000 grants to new fathers.

Dove just launched The Dove Men+Care Paternity Leave Fund, which will see $1 million (in $5,000 increments) doled out to dads who apply to receive a $5,000 grant for parental leave.

These grants could help more dads get to do what Ohanian did. Most fathers aren’t offered paid leave through their employers and simply can’t afford to take unpaid leave (especially if their partner has already had to take unpaid time).

“No dad should have to sacrifice taking leave, and I’ve been very public about taking mine in an effort to show other men that you can still be an ambitious businessperson while also taking time for your family,” says Ohanian, who notes that parental leave doesn’t just benefit dads, but also their babies, families, workplaces and communities.

According to a media release, Dove’s Paternity Leave Fund “is available for new or expectant dads who do not currently have access to paid leave through their employer.”

So if a new dad in your life doesn’t get paid leave at work, maybe they could get it through this grant.

The application is online, and to be eligible dads must be over 18, be legal residents of one the 50 United States (or D.C.) and work for an employer who offers no more than 10 days of paid paternity leave. Dads can be new dads (baby’s gotta be under 8 months old) or be expecting a child through birth or adoption. And they have to have taken the Pledge for Paternity Leave as well.

It’s unfortunate that more dads can’t do what Ohanian did, either because of the stigma against fathers taking leave or a lack of financial support for it. Hopefully, American parents (moms and dads) will have access to paid parental leave by the time this PR campaign ends in 2020, but until then, this is a pretty cool move by the brand.

Dove knows that advertising can do more than just sell body wash—it can start cultural conversations. It’s been more than 10 years since Dove first launched its Campaign for Real Beauty, and while that campaign has been criticized it has also been credited with starting the trend of more body-positive and inclusive advertising in marketing for women and girls.

It’s kind of crazy to look back at some of the advertising from the early 2000s and see one very specific body type represented over and over again. Our generation lived through an era when everyone in the Delia*s catalog was the same size, but our daughters are growing up in a world where they can look at an Aerie campaign and see different sizes and body types represented (and with their stretch marks intact!).

Maybe 10 years from now the lack of paid parental leave for fathers will seem as bizarre as expecting every woman in a catalog to be a size zero. With any hope, we’ll be talking about how crazy it was that it took a marketing campaign from a toiletries brand to change the way our culture sees parental leave for fathers.

But in the meantime, go get your money, dads. Dove’s got $1 million to spend on this conversation.

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