From the beginning, giving back to her community was engrained in her business. In 1908, she temporarily moved her base to Pittsburgh, where she opened Lelia College to train Walker “hair culturists," all of whom were black women. "The hair-care products became a means to an end to empower women," Bundles says. "This was before women had the right to vote. She knew that there were women who either were widows or had been left who had to support themselves. Without an income, there was no way for them to thrive, so she wanted to train them." Walker paved the way for other similar initiatives in the future, like Shea Moisture 's $100 million fund for black female entrepreneurs.