Our founders envisioned a company that could bridge the opportunity gap for people and communities touched by our business.
We use the assets and scale of our business to enable access to opportunity for the people and communities where we operate across North America.
In 2007, Gap Inc. formed This Way ONward, Old Navy's signature opportunity program designed to provide access to jobs and careers for socioeconomically disadvantaged youth ages 16-24 by:
This Way ONward participants build confidence, reduce social anxiety, and develop transferable skills like communication and time management, while expanding their professional social capital. This Way ONward also has meaningful ripple effects on participants’ communities and families, increasing community engagement, positive relationships with friends and family, and reduced financial stress for their families due to better job prospects.
Opportunity programs in our distribution centers (DCs) target untapped talent in local communities and are tailored to the specific needs of each DC. These programs provide a range of services, including efforts to enable a multilingual workforce and bridge the language gap.
Since 2021, we have employed more than 1,000 opportunity talent in our DCs, building a healthy workforce that is as inclusive as our customers and communities. This includes standardizing the infrastructure and operations required to support a multilingual workforce. For instance, three of our DCs participating in opportunity programming now offer candidates the option to apply and interview in multiple languages. We have also deployed tools for teams to bridge language gaps, including a multilingual glossary of key Gap Inc. warehouse terms, an instant dial-in interpretation service, as well as English language learning.
Learn more by visiting our Environmental, Social & Governance Resources page and viewing our annual ESG Report.