Apparel brand GAP named most community minded company

“Our commitment to the community is a cornerstone of our business and company culture,” said Bobbi Silten, Senior Vice President, Global Responsibility, Gap Inc., and President, Gap Foundation.  “Through strategic investments and employee volunteers, we aim to create opportunities for people in the communities where we do business. When our communities thrive, so does our business.”

Gap Inc. focuses its investments on supporting youth, women, and volunteers. In 2007 to support young people in preparing for life as an adult, Gap Inc. launched This Way Ahead, a program that provides job readiness training and paid internships for underserved youth.

Currently operating in three cities (San Francisco, New York, and Boston), This Way Ahead will expand to Houston in 2014 and a fifth city in 2015. The program is run by Gap Inc.,  in partnership with local nonprofits, and leverages employee volunteers to help youth get ready for the workplace.

Also in 2007, Gap Inc. started the P.A.C.E. (Personal Advancement & Career Enhancement) program to improve the lives of the women that make their clothes. P.A.C.E. provides women with the life skills education and technical training they need to advance at the workplace and in their personal lives. More than 25,000 women in 7 countries, including India, China, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Cambodia, have participated in P.A.C.E.

Gap Inc.’s employees are actively involved in their local communities across the globe. In total, approximately 70,000 Gap Inc. employees volunteered 460,000 hours in 2012 to support organizations in a range of ways. Across all Gap Inc. brands, there are more than 3,000 Community Leaders, employees that have stepped up to lead volunteering and community involvement locally.

It is through Gap Inc.’s long-term investments in youth, women, and volunteers that the company seeks to create positive change globally in the communities where it does business. The Civic 50 recognition demonstrates the powerful impact of this work to date.

Gap Inc. was ranked as #1 in the Consumer Discretionary category and #5 in the Large Market Cap category.

The Civic 50 surveys of companies is conducted by the National Conference on Citizenship and Points of Light, the nation’s definitive experts on civic engagement, and published by Bloomberg News.

Applicants were evaluated and accrued points based on several criteria, including how much financial and human resources are applied to civic improvement, whether internal and external resources are activated to maximize community impact, how a company’s community engagement activities support its business interests, how broadly community engagement is supported and institutionalized within a company’s policies, systems and incentives, and how a company measures the social and business value of its community engagement programs.

GAP