Our Strategy: Applying Business Innovation to Social Challenges
Businesses use innovation every day to solve problems and create opportunities. At Gap Inc., we apply the same approach to community investment by using new ways of thinking and doing to solve social problems and create new possibilities. Our strategy is built on two ideas: leveraging our company assets and creating a “virtuous cycle.”
Leveraging Company Assets
Gap Inc. makes a positive impact in the community by contributing much more than cash. We call on our stores, marketing expertise, globally recognized brands, vendor relationships and, most importantly, our talented employees to make a difference, too. By volunteering their time, skills, energy and ideas to inspire others, our employees help create greater and broader change in their communities––something that can’t be accomplished by money alone.
Creating a “Virtuous Cycle”
In addition to leveraging our assets, we aim to create a “virtuous cycle” in everything we do. When we invest in community, we want to benefit all involved—our employees, customers, shareholders, vendors and communities. For instance, when we build partnerships in the developing world to advance female factory workers, we find that every party benefits as women become more skilled at their jobs and more powerful in their communities. When everybody moves forward, initiatives gain support and continue to flourish over the long term. By designing programs that benefit all, we have shifted our model from one based on charity to an approach focused on sustainable investment.
Youth: Career Exploration and Job Readiness
Throughout our more than 40-year history, we’ve given hundreds of thousands of young people their first jobs at our stores. By working closely with young adults, we understand the skills it takes for them to succeed in the working world––skills that young people from underserved communities often lack because they haven’t been given access to information about how to get and keep a job. Through community investments and volunteerism, we share our insights and experiences with these teens to keep them engaged in their education and help them better prepare for adulthood. Learn More
Women: Personal and Professional Advancement
Women represent more than 70 percent of our employees and have shaped our management and culture. Women also play an important role in the entire apparel industry, making up approximately 80 percent of garment workers worldwide. Through partnerships with vendors and organizations on the ground in the developing world, we focus our investments on providing female garment workers with life skills education and technical training to help them move ahead in work and in life. Learn More
Service Leadership: Amplifying the Impact of Volunteerism
Our employees’ passions, talents, skills and commitment to volunteering has unlimited potential to create positive change in our communities, and we are focused on supporting their efforts in everything they do. We look for ways to match employee skills and talents––one of our company’s greatest assets––with the needs of our nonprofit partners to help them accomplish and even exceed their goals. Learn More