Ann Garrity, a 1989 University of St. Thomas alumna who founded an online marketplace for nontoxic cosmetics, will be the next speaker in the St. Thomas Alumni Association's First Friday Speaker Series at noon Friday, Feb. 5, at Nicollet Island Pavilion, 40 Power St., near downtown Minneapolis.
Garrity, who lives in Minnetrista, points out that the average woman uses nine personal care products daily exposing her to 168 chemicals every day. She recalls her physician advising her to get rid of every lotion, soap and cosmetic she owned because she had too much estrogen in her system. Because she’s a granddaughter and daughter of breast-cancer survivors, she began studying everything about cosmetics over the next three years. Today her company, Organic Diva LLC, buys and sells cosmetics from companies that sign a pledge not to use cancer-causing or hormone-disrupting ingredients in their products.
On first Fridays of each month during the academic year, the St. Thomas Alumni Association's First Friday Speaker Series offers lunch and a speaker of current interest. St. Thomas alumni and friends, along with the general public, are invited. Cost of each luncheon and presentation is $25. A limited number of $10 tickets are available to UST students at the St. Thomas Box Office.
Reservations for the Feb. 5 luncheon are due Friday, Jan. 29. Early reservations are recommended as these events fill quickly. For reservations and more information, call the St. Thomas Alumni Association, (651) 962-6430, or register online at the association’s Web site.
