Stakeholders

We work closely with labor rights organizations, environmental groups, nonprofits, community-based organizations, trade unions, industry associations, investors, academics, factory owners and managers, workers and shareholders to assess our social and environmental responsibility efforts and ensure that they make a real impact and align with the company’s business goals.

One of our most significant journeys as a company has involved how we interact with stakeholders outside Gap Inc. We’ve long understood that we cannot reach our social and environmental goals on our own, and that our relationships with a wide range of people and organizations have helped shape our path and keep us accountable.

Some stakeholders have been our most vocal critics, becoming allies over time; others have pushed us to change faster, recognizing both our successes and areas to improve. Regardless, they have been a key resource as we have worked to examine our business practices, make changes, assess our progress and communicate our approach.

It’s also worth highlighting that the nature of our stakeholder relationships varies greatly. We are formal members of multi-stakeholder initiatives such as the Ethical Trading Initiative and Social Accountability International (which you can read more about here), but we also work with many other entities as issues and opportunities are brought to our attention.

We partner with stakeholders in a variety of ways. For instance:

• They lend their expertise in areas where we lack a depth of experience.
• They partner with us in communities around the world where our monitoring, auditing, and capacity building efforts may not give us sufficient visibility into complex issues.
• They provide perspective on our strategies and goals — and how the definition of social and environmental responsibility is evolving.
• They are our partners in addressing systemic issues that involve influences beyond Gap Inc., such as governmental policies or cultural practices.
• They assist in the implementation of specific programs and initiatives.
• They track our efforts, ask tough questions, and help us develop metrics to gauge our progress.

Our stakeholders help us navigate a variety of issues and contribute to actions that support long-term change. Time after time, we have seen how listening to a diversity of voices has brought us closer to our goals — for our company and the workers who make our branded products.  

We believe that progress has been made, but we also recognize that there is more to do. We are dedicated to working with others who can provide us with constructive input and dialogue, and encourage you to contact us at social_responsibility@gap.com to share your thoughts.