A list of ongoing, and future Commitments, toward Equality – in support of YOU, our Community.
Thank you for being here.
In June 2020, we shared with you our ongoing and future Commitments –– to you, and to each other. Because every day we strive to be better, to better serve our customers and, in turn, build a stronger community.
One year later, we — as well as our parent company, URBN -- are proud to share with you the steps that we have taken thus far in ensuring necessary and impactful change.
In June 2020, we shared with you our ongoing and future Commitments –– to you, and to each other. Because every day we strive to be better, to better serve our customers and, in turn, build a stronger community.
One year later, we — as well as our parent company, URBN -- are proud to share with you the steps that we have taken thus far in ensuring necessary and impactful change.
FP INITIATIVES
AMPLIFYING COMMUNITY VOICES
Free People Diversity & Inclusion CommitteeThe FP D&I Committee, as part of a greater URBN D&I initiative, has been celebrating and sharing diversity within their own community while working alongside and supporting organizations large and small in a quest for social justice. They also step up as the eyes and ears of the FP community, knowing that change begins with active listening.
Celebrating And Lifting Up Our Own BIPOC Communities
We do not tolerate hatred or discrimination in any form, and vow to stand in solidarity among BIPOC communities both within and outside of our FP family. Throughout the year we have lifted up, celebrated and learned from our AAPI community, our Latinx community celebrating Latinx Heritage Month, and are committed to service across our community on Martin Luther King Day of Service. This is just the beginning.
DRIVING CHANGE ON THE GROUND
Community Mentorship + VolunteeringOur Free People Volunteer program offers all of our full time Home Office and showroom employees four paid days a year to volunteer with one of our 42 nonprofit partners, 12 of them supporting organizations specifically focused on uplifting and supporting the BIPOC community in our key cities of Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, LA, and London. In addition to our individual work we engage in monthly volunteer mentorship programs supporting Girls Inc. local chapters, The Murrell Dobbins Career Technical High School, and stocking local community fridges.
Supporting Our Future Leaders With Girls Inc.
Since 2016, Free People has partnered with our sisters at Girls Inc., to support their mission of inspiring hundreds of thousands of young women in inner city communities around the country. Through advocacy, wellness, mental health + mentorship programming, and donations of over $1 million, we support their “whole girls” approach to empowerment. In response to the greater social justice movement we collaborated with Talkspace to provide 100% of the Girls Inc. community with mental health workshops and tools to navigate an incredibly challenging time in our lives.
Supporting Our Local Trans Community
In 2021 we entered a multi-faceted supportive partnership with William Way’s Trans Resource Center, supporting their important work in uplifting our local LGBTQ+ community. To read more, click here.
GIVING TO THOSE WHO NEED IT MOST
Donations To Nonprofits Advocating For Social JusticeIn support of the BIPOC and specifically the Black community, URBN has contributed to five nonprofits -- including an employee donation match -- which currently surpasses $925,000. In response to COVID-19, we donated 70,000 units of hand sanitizer to the Latinx nonprofit Mercado Global, supporting Indigenous female weaving communities in Guatemala. To learn more about our partnership with Mercado, click here.
Donating Product To Local Communities In Need
Throughout the year we’ve collaborated with local nonprofit partners around the globe, giving back to those communities who are navigating life's toughest transitions by: providing product and meal donations, and initiating gift drives and fundraising with partners like Philabundance, The Wardrobe, and UK’s Smart Works. We’ve also donated over 150,000 units of clothing to predominantly BIPOC women.
INCLUSIVE REPRESENTATION
Supporting The National Park Foundation Inclusive Crews2021 marks the fourth year of Free People’s partnership with NPF, supporting not only their mission to enhance and protect America’s parks, but also to bring diversity and inclusivity to the parks through connecting traditionally underrepresented communities with parks to learn professional skills and train in park stewardship. Our partnership with NPF will directly support such groups -- including BIPOC, LGBTQ+, Native American, Latinx, and Hawaiian crew -- by providing them with a safe and inclusive space to nurture their passion for conservation and public lands. Learn more about our work here.
Brand Collaboration + Representation
In collaboration with consultants from the BIPOC community, we have and continue to actively work toward more inclusive brand messaging, collaborating with creatives representing all demographics and lifting up all communities as representatives of our brand.
As our own brand has made significant achievements within this space, so too has our parent company, URBN, in a collective effort to further recognize the general community via improving our own. Among our most notable initiatives to date:
URBN INITIATIVES
NURTURING OUR FUTURE TALENT
- Virtual Class Series: In January, The D&I Community Outreach Committee & Dobbins Tech created weekly Zoom instructional sessions for the school’s Fashion Design program. These sessions will culminate in projects that the students will prepare for review and will be graded on. Students will learn directly from the URBN Design and Technical Design teams. Stay tuned for an update in June about this exciting partnership.
GIVING WITH PURPOSE
- In September URBN's Home Office participated in the 2020 UNCF Virtual Walk. URBN teams raised over $18K in donations that will support children's education via the United Negro College Fund. In total URBN has contributed $208K to UNCF.
- In December URBN partnered with Achievability to donate gifts to underrepresented families in the Philadelphia Region.
- Since December, D&I Community Outreach has partnered with URBN’s Menus & Venues to donate & deliver over 60lbs of produce to Mama-Tee Community Fridges located at underrepresented Senior Centers in Philadelphia.
ENRICHING URBN CULTURE
- URBN has created an Executive Director of Human Resources position and is actively recruiting for the role.
- In 2021, URBN recognized Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid company holiday.
- Our internal Talent team is partnering with Career Services at top HBCUs, hosting internship information sessions, attending virtual career fairs, posting to job boards, and engaging talent interested in working in our stores or Home Office.
- The Talent team continues to build their partnership with UNCF through monthly meetings to develop mentorship opportunities, connect directly with students, and share both store and Home Office opportunities.
LISTENING TO OUR COMMUNITY
- Free People has taken the first steps toward building a companywide mentorship program, which will allow employees the opportunity to align with and learn from their matched mentors. Through this program, we hope to support our team’s collective growth while enhancing community relationships and improving employee retention.
- The URBN D&I Committee will be forming Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), which will serve as a forum to share identity in a safe space, and prove vital to cultivating an even more inclusive URBN culture. These groups will serve as voices for their community, and will be empowered to amplify their voices, ideas and passions to the URBN D&I Committee and community.
- The URBN D&I Committee, in partnership with the URBN Talent team, plan to create an employee engagement survey. Understanding how our employees navigate their roles and purpose at URBN is a necessary step in determining how to best support both our immediate and greater community.