The vision of Gap Foundation is simple: to create opportunities for people to own their future and fulfill their personal promise. Our mantra, “Be What’s Possible,” is a call to action for those we aim to serve — and for ourselves.

We focus our investments on underserved youth in the developed world and women in the developing world because, based on our company’s assets, we see the greatest potential to have an impact in these areas.

As a company, we understand youth culture. In fact, throughout our 40-year history, we have given many young people their first jobs. But young people from underserved communities often lack access to information about how to get a job and keep one. They aren’t exposed to the variety of careers available, or don’t understand the education it takes to pursue them. Through our community investments, our goal is to keep youth engaged in their education and help them better prepare for adulthood through lessons learned from the world of work. 

We created a signature program called This Way Ahead to support our efforts with youth. Delivered in partnership with The Door, a New York-based nonprofit, This Way Ahead exposes underserved youth to a range of work-related learning experiences. The curriculum was written by Gap Inc. employees and is delivered by our store management and The Door staff in four phases: career exploration, job readiness training, an internship, and follow-up support.

Each year, more than 100 youth participate in the program and compete for 40 internship positions in our Gap and Old Navy stores in Manhattan. This program will expand to the Bay Area in 2010. Click here to learn more about our youth signature program, This Way Ahead.

Supporting women’s advancement is another great fit for our company. Women represent over 70 percent of our employees, and have an influential role throughout our management and culture. Since women comprise approximately 80 percent of garment workers worldwide, they also play an important role in the entire apparel industry. While many social programs focus on finding a means of income for women in the developing world, fewer help them advance once they are in a job.

In 2006, we created the Gap Inc. P.A.C.E. (Personal Advancement, Career Enhancement) program which helps female garment works in developing countries advance beyond entry-level positions and fulfill their potential through education.

We piloted the program in India, one of our largest sourcing markets. Together with the ICRW and Swasti Health Resources, our local NGO partner, we created a program based on the needs assessed at each participating factory location. The result was a two-phase training program that began in 2007. Click here to learn more about our women's signature program, P.A.C.E.