Introducing P.A.C.E.: Empowering Female Workers Around The World

Gap Inc. cofounders Doris and Don Fisher opened their first store in 1969 with a belief that they were creating a different kind of business. Today, Gap employees around the world work every day to do more than sell clothes.

For Don Fisher, who passed away in 2009, “do more” meant a lifelong commitment to investing in communities. Some 40 years later, Gap Inc. is carrying on Fisher’s legacy with a community investment program educating female garment workers around the globe.

The development of Gap Inc.’s P.A.C.E. (Personal Advancement & Career Enhancement) program began in 2007, when the company decided to align its community investments closely with its business to create a more sustainable and scalable impact, says Dotti Hatcher, Executive Director of P.A.C.E. Global Programs.

P.A.C.E. teaches women comprehensive life skills like communication, problem solving, time management and financial planning. About 80% of garment workers worldwide — as well as 70% of Gap’s retail and corporate employees – are women, the company says.

But one of the greatest lessons P.A.C.E. offers comes not from Gap Inc., or even its vendors, but from the participants themselves. In the seven developing countries where P.A.C.E. operates – from India to Bangladesh to China — female role models speak volumes.

In developing countries, women like Sujatha, a P.A.C.E. participant and newly promoted supervisor, are more than just leaders: They’re mirrors reflecting the potential of other women. “Watching Sujatha makes me want to give a better education to my daughter,” narrates her older sister in a video about the program. “She’s my younger sister — and I want to be just like her.”

“It’s so important for women to be able to see women like themselves growing and advancing, because that means they can do it, too,” Hatcher says.

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Lisa Wirthman, P.A.C.E. | January 31, 2013 | Article Link