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At VF Corporation, we believe in investing in the changemakers who share our mission and vision to create a better world. This idea of seeding positive change is not new to us - we have long been committed to being far more than an apparel and footwear company. We leverage our resources and expertise to be catalysts for societal transformation, supporting those who advocate for and work to advance the health of our planet, equity and opportunities for all people, the empowerment of women, the urgency for climate solutions and disaster relief and recovery when and where it is needed.
Together, The VF Foundation and VF Corporation’s portfolio of brands invested nearly $23 million* in FY 2022 in monetary grants and product donations to positively impact millions of people and the planet we share. Additionally, we leveraged the time and talent of our associates for volunteerism and employee-giving campaigns
to support meaningful action in the communities where VF operates around the world.
We know there is strength in our diversity and power in our collective. We believe that, together, we are uniquely positioned to help seed the solutions to some of today’s most critical issues and grow positive change, grow opportunities, grow hope, grow meaningful impact and grow the good.
In this year’s Impact Report, we will introduce you to some of the social and environmental innovators we partnered with to grow the good in FY 2022. We are more committed than ever to ensure their work will flourish. We will continue to listen to, learn from and refine our approach to power these relationships as they generate solutions and tangible results to help create a more equitable and sustainable future for all.
This report is the data behind the good. These are the stories of the people, causes and communities who cultivated the seeds of change and grew remarkable impact that shows the true power of human innovation, global cooperation, collective action, optimism and resilience. You’ll see our collaborative focus on introducing more people to the healing power of the great outdoors, to advancing diversity and equity in the talent pipeline, to empowering women and girls across the globe and advocating for life-changing policies to protect our planet, from regenerative agriculture to environmental stewardship and climate justice.
We have watched our impact grow in meaningful ways by our incredible partners, our company and associates who have worked together with the Foundation to forge deeper community connections, advance social and racial equity and seed the work of the
changemakers, visionaries and entrepreneurs that are growing a better future for all.
We are so proud of the organizations we have supported, the causes and movements we strengthened and the meaningful change we helped to drive to accelerate progress. As always, we are in awe of the nonprofits, businesses, philanthropic partners, governments and communities across the globe who have planted and often amplified our resources, firmly yielding life-changing, planet-protecting, peopleempowering impact.
Gloria Schoch Executive Director, The VF Foundation & Senior Director, VF CorporationTogether, The VF Foundation and VF Corporation’s portfolio of brands invested nearly $23 million* in FY 2022 in monetary grants and product donations to positively impact millions of people and the planet we share.Photo courtesy of Soil Health Institute * The VF Foundation invested $8,262,000 in grantmaking in FY 2022 * VF Corporation donated $14,418,221 in monetary and product donations in FY 2022
The VF Foundation supports non-profit organizations in driving inclusive and equitable movements for the betterment of people and our planet, including movements that embrace the fact that Outside Matters, define Worthy Work and celebrate that we are Free to Be.
Through our work, our investments, our advocacy and our passionate commitment
to growing the good, we make it possible for people and organizations to elevate their work protecting the planet, striving for equity and inclusivity, being innovative stewards of our environment and being ready to help when disasters strike. Since the Foundation’s inception in 2002, we have granted nearly $70 million in the communities where VF operates across the U.S. and around the world.
We believe in the power of nature, the importance of protecting it and making it more accessible to all to foster sustainable and active lifestyles.
We believe in investing in educational pathways across the apparel, outdoor and skilled trades industries to build a pipeline of next-gen, inclusive leaders who can reach their full potential.
We believe in fostering creativity and self-expression to ensure that everyone has opportunities and support to follow their passions and dreams.
The VF Foundation and VF Corporation provide coordinated support for disaster and humanitarian relief and recovery efforts around the world. This includes The VF Foundation monetary investments and matching grants and VF Corporation product donations to eligible charitable organizations, as well as VF Corporation employee donations and volunteer efforts.
We seed the ideas, the work, the organizations and the innovations that grow into world-changing impact.Photo Credit: Amy Osborne, courtesy of Trust for Public Land
The VF Foundation is proud to foster promising or emerging causes and organizations to help them grow, flourish and branch out. Our grants have served as seed money to transform non-profits, change the lives and trajectories of those working in communities and create multi-generational impact in the areas most important to our mission and vision. We are committed to always being believers in big ideas, innovative solutions, collaborative partnerships and the invincible human spirit.
PEOPLE
3,209,758*
AKTION DEUTSCHLAND HILFT E.V.
AMERICAN FOREST FOUNDATION
AMERICAN INDIAN COLLEGE FUND
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION
BIG CITY MOUNTAINEERS
BOLSA CHICA CONSERVANCY
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF METRO DENVER
CAMBER OUTDOORS
CAMBODIAN CHILDREN’S FUND
CDP NORTH AMERICA
CHILDREN’S HOME SOCIETY OF NORTH CAROLINA
CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF DENVER
CIVIC CENTER CONSERVANCY
COLORADO MESA UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION
COLORADO OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL
COLORADO SUCCEEDS
COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF BOULDER COUNTY
CONSERVATION COLORADO EDUCATION FUND
CONSERVATION LANDS FOUNDATION
CREATIVES WANT CHANGE
DENVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION
FASHION SCHOLARSHIP FUND
FIRST DESCENTS
FORUM FOR THE FUTURE
FRIENDS OF GREENSBORO PARKS AND RECREATION
GERMAN RED CROSS
GIRL SCOUTS OF THE USA
GREENING YOUTH FOUNDATION
GREENSBORO CHAMBER FOUNDATION
GREENSBORO CHILDREN’S MUSEUM
GREENSBORO DOWNTOWN PARKS
GUILFORD EDUCATION ALLIANCE
GUILFORD SAYS YES TO EDUCATION
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY FORT WORTH AREA
IMPACT FARMING FOUNDATION
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF THE TRIAD
MALAYSIAN RELIEF AGENCY FOUNDATION
MCA DENVER
MILE HIGH YOUTH CORPS
NATIONAL FOREST FOUNDATION
NATIONAL GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION CENTER FOR BEST PRACTICES
NATIONAL SPORTS CENTER FOR THE DISABLED
NEAR SOUTHSIDE
NO BARRIERS
NORTH CAROLINA
TEXTILE FOUNDATION
ORANGE COUNTY
COASTKEEPERS
OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION
OUTDOOR ALLIANCE
PARADOX SPORTS
PROTECT OUR WINTERS
RAISEFASHION
READY FOR SCHOOL
READY FOR LIFE
REDRESS
REGENERATIVE RISING
RINO GIVES BACK
SAN LUIS VALLEY
GREAT OUTDOORS
SOIL HEALTH INSTITUTE
SOS OUTREACH
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS WINTER SPORTS CLUB
SURFRIDER FOUNDATION
THE ASPEN INSTITUTE
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY
THE OUTDOOR FOUNDATION
TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND
UNITED ARTS COUNCIL OF GREATER GREENSBORO
UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION
UNITED STATES ASSOCIATION FOR UNHCR
UNITED WAY OF GREATER GREENSBORO
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA EXCELLENCE FOUNDATION
VOLUNTEERS FOR OUTDOOR COLORADO
WATERAID
WESTERN COLORADO UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION
WOMEN’S RESOURCE CENTER OF GREENSBORO
WOMEN’S WILDERNESS
YOUTH ON RECORD
YOUTH SEEN
Below are the highlights of the impact created by the game-changers, planet-savers and big thinkers we support. We share their vision, passion and commitment to making a lasting impact in the world.
We help grow outdoor experiences that change lives, create equitable access to nature, introduce underserved populations to the wonders of the planet and fuel the next generation of environmental stewards.
There is a large disparity between the U.S. population and the number of Black and Brown people that are participating in outdoors and mountaineering. Team Full Circle is aiming to change the odds as role models of social change.
CORE PARTICIPATION
BY ETHNICITY
RECREATE MORE THAN ONCE A WEEK
The profile of the outdoor’s most dedicated participants (those that participated more than once a week) has remained largely unchanged in recent years
supported and empowered in the outdoors. The Greening Youth Foundation’s mission is to connect underrepresented youth and young adults to the outdoors and careers in conservation. With this adventure, the two groups are inspiring the next generation about how they can reach their personal summits and they are also bringing more stories to the forefront of people from underrepresented communities thriving in the outdoors.
This expedition not only increased the awareness and conversation about the lack of Black representation in mountaineering, it furthered the strength of the connection between the Black climbing community, the Sherpa community and the Nepali culture overall. Climber Evan Green said, “The Full Circle Expedition was a pivotal moment in my life. Climbing Everest was undoubtedly a highlight of the trip; however, this expedition was so much more than that. Traveling to a foreign country and being immersed with new cultures allowed me to grow, learn so much, laugh and struggle with the team. I’m truly blessed.”
* OUTSIDE CIRCLE:
Percent of Outdoor Particpants, 2020
African American/Black
Asian/Pacific Islander
Caucasian/White, non-Hispanic
Hispanic
Other
On May 12, 2022, Team Full Circle made history by becoming the first Black expedition to reach the top of Mount Everest. With funding from The VF Foundation, The North Face® and Smartwool®, this group of 11 Black climbers not only ascended to new heights, they raised awareness of the lack of diverse representation in outdoor sports and shattered stereotypes around the world. “There’s only a handful of people who have ever even been on that mountain,” said climber Eddie Taylor. “And there’s no way we couldn’t
talk about the lack of diversity in the climbing community.”
“People say to us, ‘Black people don’t do snow. We don’t ski, we don’t do camping,’” said climber Rosemary Saal. “And that can become a very real, selfimposed limitation. People don’t even know the things they can do unless they’re exposed to it.”
Full Circle Expedition uses education, public speaking and expeditions to create spaces for individuals to feel represented,
Funding from The VF Foundation also provided opportunities for four students from Central Wyoming College, who are members of the Wind River Indian Reservation, to trek to Everest Base Camp.
$250,000
Longboard Women United creates, funds and supports humanitarian programs that fuel positive impact on some of the most vulnerable populations worldwide, specifically focusing on children, teenagers and women. “We work to break the stigma refugees carry and provide them with joyful activities while they are going through an extraordinarily hard time,” explained Valeria Kechichian, Founder and Director. “We use boards, arts and education as tools for change and help refugees integrate in their new community. Additionally, we help local kids learn empathy as they realize that these new friends are kids just like them.” Valeria says that their organization knows that basic needs are not just food and shelter but also love, safety, emotional health and intelligence, and she believes that having the resources to heal after going through intense trauma is a basic human right. To date, the organization has developed social and inclusive projects on a global scale. Longboard Women United currently runs projects in orphanages in Belgium and India, with at-risk girls in Malaysia and with kids and teenagers with physical and intellectual disabilities in Chile. They also offer an online program to help women everywhere heal from sexual abuse.
75 978 70%
The Cambodian Children’s Fund’s (CCF) Youth Leadership Camps serve the country’s most impoverished children living in Steung Meanchey, a former dumpsite in Phnom Penh. These camps help students discover their strengths, articulate their personal values and become role models of social change. Camping trips held at the end of 2021 were especially impactful, as the students had been in Covid-related lockdown and unable to leave the city for the previous six months. Inclusivity, diversity and equity is key in these camps and every child receives the same opportunity to study, grow and become tomorrow’s leaders. Cambodia’s young people face many challenges, with perhaps the most significant being lack of access to education and skills development and lack of opportunities to apply and develop what education they do possess to “real life.” CCF’s Youth Leadership Camps aim to prepare a generation of confident young people who can make a difference, unlocking the leadership potential of these vulnerable youth. Through the camps, students take part in team building, debate, group discussions and community projects and can apply leadership concepts as they interact with people outside their community and share what they have learned with peers and family members.
Paradox Sports is dedicated to transforming lives and communities through adaptive climbing opportunities that defy convention. They make the outdoors, specifically climbing and mountaineering opportunities, accessible to people with disabilities. This year, a grant from The VF Foundation fully funded trips for veterans to Grand Teton and Yosemite National Parks.
“These trips empower our participants, push their limits and open up places that many people never thought were accessible to them,” explained Becky Lindstrom, Development Manager. “With The VF Foundation’s support, we were able to increase participation and access for the 20 veterans who took this journey with us.”
One of the participants on the Grand Teton trip explained that the experience
was much more than just mountaineering. He said that it offered the opportunity to “reset” and gain confidence, a renewed passion for nature and the courage to do hard things. He also said it reminded him of the importance of prioritizing his time. “This trip made me realize that we don’t have an endless amount of time on this earth and spending all of it chasing a paycheck or material goods doesn’t bring me much joy. Sitting on the top of a mountain or the side of a cliff does.” Participants say that gaining confidence in their climbing abilities has translated to bolstering confidence in other areas of their life.
Becky said, “With The VF Foundation’s support, we were able to stretch the dollars to include more veterans than we originally anticipated and the confidence we gained from running the Grand Teton trip on our own this year has made us officially add it as an annual trip for Paradox Sports.”
This isn’t just about climbing mountains. It’s about embracing life.~ DJ Skelton, Army Major, retired and Paradox Sports Co-Founder Photo Credit: Will Strathmann, courtesy of Paradox Sports
Girl Scouts Love State Parks (GSLSP) is an integral part of Girl Scouts’ efforts to increase access to the outdoors for all. It is a program intentionally designed to connect Girl Scouts and their families to local, accessible outdoor spaces that, for many, were previously unknown or not visited. GSLSP Weekend takes place across the country each September, with local state parks encouraging self-guided tours, family hikes, watersports, stargazing and more.
In addition to overall funding for GSLSP, two Girl Scout councils received grant funding to engage with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) girls and families as part of a new pilot program.
Girl Scouts of Colorado had 40 girls and 15 adults from troops in Title 1 districts take part in their GSLSP activities. Troops had their entrance fees to the park covered and joined staff at Barr Lake State Park for special programming. Troops were provided with outdoor supplies. Council staff were provided with annual state parks passes so they can return for outdoor skill building programs yearround. At Girl Scouts of Greater New York, 65% of the participants from their all-urban council were from minority backgrounds. Programs included rangerled activities such as estuary exploration,
fishing, marine life seining, invasive species removal, bird watching, scavenger hunts, litter pick-up, bike repair workshops, Girl Scout songs, crafts and games. Girl Scouts who were unable to attend in person participated in a virtual event.
Girl Scout councils have openly embraced GSLSP Weekend and say it makes a bold statement that joining Girl Scouts means everyone should feel welcome and have access to the outdoors and have fun. This event is now considered a “valued activity” by the National Association of State Park Directors and has been incorporated into other signature national activations including the Girl Scouts Love the Outdoors Challenge.
45,000
GIRLS AND FAMILIES PARTICIPATED IN GSLSP
98
COUNCILS HOSTED ACROSS THE U.S. AND PUERTO RICO
518
36% EVENTS AT 367 STATE PARKS ACROSS THE U.S. AND PUERTO RICO
OF PILOT PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS WERE FROM UNDERREPRESENTED BIPOC COMMUNITIES
In 2019, London Wildlife Trust partnered with Flock Together, a birdwatching and nature support club for People of Color (POC), to help create the Flock Together Academy. The Academy delivers a range of youthfocused outdoor engagement sessions at London Wildlife Trust nature reserves that support the next generation in new ways, reaching undersupported young people who have traditionally been underrepresented in nature and the outdoors. Flock Together founders, Ollie Olanipekun and Nadeem Perera, created the Academy, with support from London Wildlife Trust, to share with their wider community the proven benefits they have been afforded through bird watching and spending time in nature. Through creative and progressive sessions designed by POC creatives from the Flock Together community and London Wildlife Trust teams, young Londoners are inspired to pay attention to the natural world around them, gain a comfortable familiarity with the outdoors, adopt a lifelong practice that supports their ongoing mental health and feel nature is theirs to take pride in and defend against crisis. The VF Foundation grant helped fund a part-time General Manager for six months who focused on developing the Academy, gathering impact data and overseeing the program, as well as additional fundraising. The grant also enabled them to deliver four full-day Academy pilot sessions for more than 60 young people this year. Timberland® also helped fuel public awareness of Flock Together through their “Nature Needs Heroes” campaign.
We foster creativity, mentoring and opportunities to grow an equitable talent pipeline that will fuel unique perspectives and diverse new talent to the fashion, apparel, outdoor and skilled trades industries.
With so few Black senior and executivelevel leaders in fashion and retail industries, Creatives Want Change (CWC) saw an opportunity to raise awareness within the Black community and help cultivate Black creative talent beginning in high school and continuing into early professional development. “Our program pillars create an educational pipeline that starts with pre-college programs and feeds those high school students into mentorships, internships, and eventually into top apprenticeships and full-ride undergraduate scholarships,” explained Namasha Schelling, CWC Program Director. “This network that the students build over the years will help them in their early professional careers and we hope it will eventually land them in leadership positions at fashion and retail companies.”
CWC provides students with lifechanging opportunities that shape their high school, college and early career trajectories.
With funding from The VF Foundation this past year, CWC was able to send a new cohort of students to pre-college programs. The VF Foundation also participated in CWC’s mentorship program. Eunice Lee, Global Creative Design Director at The North Face®, mentored CWC Fellow Dayne Thompson through the highly competitive application process. Dayne was recently accepted into New York’s prestigious Parsons School of Design.
Namasha said, “The only way to get more Black creative talent in the industry is to cultivate this talent, starting at the high school level. It is too late to start in college. Since many Black high school students cannot afford college, we must disrupt the system with alternatives, like paid apprenticeships, that can circumvent the college system and give companies the trained employees they need. Additionally, companies across the country have made significant pledges to meet ambitious and necessary diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. And they can only reach these goals if there is an educational pipeline like ours that will train BIPOC students with the needed skills.”
“There are so many career options in fashion and we don’t have to limit ourselves.”
~ Isabelle Jean, Student at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC
128
The Fashion Scholarship Fund (FSF) works directly with some of the country’s most talented young students from diverse backgrounds, awarding over $1 million each year in scholarships. They also provide scholars with a wide range of internship and career opportunities, strong mentoring, networking, professional development and unprecedented access to the industry’s most influential leaders and companies. The FSF partnership with The VF Foundation centers on advancing equity and inclusion in the talent pipeline specifically for the apparel, fashion and retail industries. Through this past year’s grant support, the FSF matched 256 industry professionals and FSF Alumni with one-on-one mentoring to foster long-term career success for these students. Of the mentors, 52% self-identified as underrepresented by race, gender or first generation college student status themselves. Additionally, funding from The VF Foundation supported The FSF Community College Talent Initiative, reaching a racially and economically diverse student population and recruiting them for career awareness and pre-professional educational experiences modeled after the FSF’s programming for four-year colleges.
RECENT COLLEGE GRADUATES WERE MATCHED WITH INDUSTRY PROFESSIONAL MENTORS
MENTORING SESSIONS TOOK PLACE DURING THE GRANT PERIOD
MENTEES AND ALUMNI ATTENDED EVENTS DURING THE GRANT PERIOD
The VF Foundation and Kipling® partnered with FSF to create a summer program for community college students to visit their Jersey City office to learn more about the fashion industry. Two students were selected for an all-expenses-paid pilot program where they spent three days job shadowing, learning about product lifecycles and building relationships. Dickies® hosted a FSF scholar as an intern over the summer.
Black entrepreneurs start with less capital, on average, than their non-Black competitors. They are also more likely to be denied financing and have their profitability affected by a lack of access to capital. That’s what inspired RAISEfashion to create a Designer Fund to provide funding and advising to Black-owned emerging fashion businesses. They bring together a diverse network of fashion industry professionals committed to promoting diversity and inclusivity and offering their expertise to elevate emerging brands. With the support of funds from The VF Foundation, RAISEfashion has disbursed grants to qualifying US-based, Black-owned fashion brands to help offset production costs, scale growth and support capital needs. Each designer is paired with up to four volunteer mentors from within the RAISEfashion network. Customer demand already exists for these designers, but many are unable to fulfill outstanding orders due to insufficient funding. “We provide a combination of funding and mentorship,” said Alexa Geovanos, Executive Director of RAISEfashion. “Those two things together help us to make the biggest positive impact and offer them the greatest chance for industry success.”
RAISEfashion provided opportunity and access that we would otherwise never have had. It’s just been a dream come true. We’re so grateful.
~ Bruce and Glen Proctor, Co-Founders of BruceGlenPhoto Credit: Purcell Nurse for BruceGlen, courtesy of RAISEfashion
We help fuel social movements to elevate women’s rights, fight for their economic resilience, create equitable health and education resources and provide opportunities for women and girls to thrive.
15,248 HOUSEHOLDS CONNECTED TO NEW PIPED WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS
370
PRIVATE WATER OPERATORS TRAINED TO OPERATE THE NEW SYSTEMS
WaterAid is a “gender justice champion” aiming to decrease inequalities and promote access to climate-resilient water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services for marginalized communities. With the support of The VF Foundation, WaterAid has increased access to inclusive WASH services for the most marginalized people in the Kandal Province of Cambodia, where some of VF’s products are manufactured, reaching over 85,970 community members living in flood-prone areas. The organization prioritizes women’s leadership throughout the design and implementation of this project and ensures that WASH services are sustainable and resilient to the impacts of climate change.
Despite a growing tourism industry, Cambodia remains one of the poorest nations in Southeast Asia. One in five people don’t have access to safe drinking water, and one in five people don’t have access to a toilet.
Even when WASH services are available, women, girls and people living with a disability are further disenfranchised as they face greater obstacles in accessing equitable and inclusive WASH services to fit their unique needs.
With this funding, WaterAid also provided coaching sessions to Private Water
Operators (PWOs) and local authorities on water quality monitoring to improve and sustain water service quality. PWOs received coaching and a test kit to conduct daily testing and they are now able to monitor and track daily water quality and share data with customers. They are also working to coach the commune chief and village chief to continue reaching marginalized households without piped water connections. Additionally, they educated trainers to conduct door-to-door meetings in order to promote community awareness on the benefits of using piped water supply and climate-resilient WASH. PWOs worked to empower government counterparts at the sub-national level to promote communications and menstrual hygiene awareness to community members.
1,552
6 HOUSEHOLDS WITH ACCESS TO NEW LATRINES
116
AWARENESS SESSIONS REACHING 3,475 PEOPLE WITH MESSAGES ON WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE PRACTICES
$250,000 2021 GRANT $250,000 2022 GRANT
While it may be hard to imagine, water scarcity is real. In Cambodia, one in five people don’t have access to safe drinking water.
~ Nefertiti Saleh, Director, Partnerships, WaterAid America
UNICEF Bangladesh works with the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs to ensure an inclusive and accessible Early Childhood Development (ECD) program for every young child in Bangladesh. With funding from The VF Foundation, UNICEF is strengthening systems, supporting implementation of programming on the local level and developing a database and monitoring system to ensure interventions reach the most vulnerable children. Justine Feighery, Senior Director of Corporate Partnerships Development for UNICEF, explains that there is clear evidence that the foundation for a healthy and productive life is set in early childhood. “The brain develops most rapidly in the first years of life,” she said. “However, in Bangladesh, the majority of children lack access to quality ECD services. Only 13.4 percent of children aged three to five attend early childhood education and only 8.8 percent of Bangladeshi children under five have three or more books in their home.” Lack of access to stimulating ECD deprives these children of opportunities to expand their language skills and social and emotional development, which can lead to issues later in life including exploitation, difficulty finding employment, increased rates of poverty, declines in health and more. With this funding, UNICEF is working to ensure effective ECD delivery, sustainability and scalability, giving each child their best chance at fulfilling their potential.
The Resilience Fund for Women in Global Value Chains emerged in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic to address the needs of women workers and the communities surrounding global supply chains. “It was clear that the pandemic was disproportionately affecting women and girls around the world, reversing the gains of the past decades in advancing women’s economic empowerment, health, rights and safety,” said Justine Desmarais of the Universal Access Project at the United Nations Foundation. The VF Foundation was a founding contributor of this pooled fund that is anchored by contributions from global brands. It supports locallyled innovations, solutions or emerging practices and deploys the collective
resources of forward-thinking companies in order to boost the long-term economic resilience, health and fortunes of women who are working to meet global demands. It builds on innovative and emerging practices in philanthropy by investing in local women-led organizations, adopting democratized and participatory processes and shifting the power dynamics between funders and grantees in the communities where the brands operate. “Together with other corporate investments, The VF Foundation’s contribution underwrote support for more than 30 women-led grassroots organizations in India and Bangladesh, including indirect grants in those countries in partnership with Women’s Fund Asia,” said Justine. The Fund, which was launched virtually with a keynote by Grameen Bank, Founder and Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus and recognized by the World Economic Forum as a best-in-class case study on social justice and stakeholder inclusion, is expanding its grantmaking to Cambodia and Vietnam in 2023. The Fund places its trust in the hands of the women and communities who will ultimately own their solutions. The Fund is redefining what is possible through pooled corporate giving and community-led engagement.
Support from The VF Foundation has been critical to the success of the Fund in addressing systemic barriers to women’s economic resilience. It has allowed the Fund to stay true to its commitment to democratic giving, shared learning, gender justice and power-sharing.”
We are proud to help grow the fashion and outdoor industry’s role in addressing climate change, advocating for climate and environmental justice and helping fuel regenerative practices that create a positive relationship with nature.
More than half of U.S. grasslands have been degraded or converted, harming wildlife and increasing economic challenges for ranchers. Regenerative ranching, including improved grazing practices and adaptive management, can help lands provide food and jobs, secure clean water and wildlife habitat and store carbon in the soil. With funding from The VF Foundation, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) created an innovative, inclusive “toolbox” of metrics and curriculum to give indigenous and Latinx ranchers an introduction to regenerative ranching. They enabled stakeholders to measure the outcomes with a goal of improving management on 240 million acres (30%) of U.S. grazing lands by 2030. Funding also leveraged a virtual fence pilot project. Existing infrastructure like barbed-wire fencing limits the precision and flexibility that ranchers need for regenerative grazing practices or climate change adaptation. Virtual fencing, which uses GPS collars to manage cattle, is emerging as a powerful tool for flexible management. The project aligned with a Native American partner, the Jemez Pueblo in New Mexico, to deploy and evaluate virtual fence technology on grazing units managed by the Pueblo. Workshops will follow to share lessons learned and how indigenous and Latinx producers can use it to advance adaptive management on the grazing lands they manage.
Regenerative Rising is devoted to accelerating regenerative principles. Keeping with this focus, Regenerative Rising worked with Other Half Processing, regenerative farmers/ranchers and other supply chain partners to “sow and grow” GRASS - the Generalized Regenerative Agriculture Sourcing Specification. GRASS is a benchmark tool to identify and connect key regenerative indicators among existing and emerging livestock grazing standards and verification systems. Support from the Foundation was used to build the GRASS stakeholder group, bring in expertise in benchmarking tools and successfully apply for a $35 million USDA Climate Smart Commodity Grant. GRASS sets baseline criteria for regenerative livestock supply chains with environmental, climate, animal welfare, producer economics and social justice
considerations. It allows product buyers to have greater confidence in unified regenerative outcomes and claims and helps producers gain more clarity on market-approved production criteria that still allow them choice among certifications and auditing systems. “The expansion of regenerative agriculture is essential to meet climate and environmental quality goals, promote animal welfare and ensure farmer/rancher and rural community resiliency,” said Seleyn DeYarus, Founder of Regenerative Rising. “The lack of a shared definition and baseline regenerative criteria has limited supply volumes from producers and companies’ abilities to make strong regenerative claims in the marketplace. GRASS is being developed to fill this gap.”
In recent years, the move to be sustainable has gained momentum across all types of industries, including fashion and apparel. Regenerative farming is not only changing growing practices and helping improve the lives of farmers, it replenishes the soil and the nature surrounding it. Cotton farmers’ use of regenerative practices can increase carbon sequestration, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce erosion and improve their soil’s drought resilience. Funding from The VF Foundation supported the U.S. Regenerative Cotton Fund (USRCF), which will help advance the adoption of soil health management systems across more than one million acres of U.S. cotton cropland. This unique, farmer-facing, science-based initiative
not only supports long-term, regenerative cotton production in the United States, its goal is to eliminate one million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) from the atmosphere by 2026. This initiative aligns with VF’s global sustainability efforts and its roadmap to meet its scope 3 science-based targets by taking a farmercentric, regenerative approach to scale cotton growing practices and measure their impacts. The VF Foundation is also helping to power USRCF’s first internship class dedicated to establishing career paths for students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and empowering them to be leaders and decision-makers in U.S. agriculture.
Growing our Future (GoF) is a systemwide initiative, funded in part by The VF Foundation, that brings together more than 135 organizations, from farming communities to investors and brands, to work collaboratively to drive and scale the transition to a just and regenerative agriculture system in the United States. Current approaches to producing food and agricultural commodities have led to ecosystem degradation, social inequality, fragile supply chains, vulnerable farm communities and reduced access to healthy food. Farmer incomes have fallen and Black farm communities, in particular, have lost 90% of the land they once owned. In contrast, regenerative
agriculture systems rehabilitate and enhance ecosystems by prioritizing soil health and water management, while empowering farm communities. “By bringing together uncommon partners and allowing them to build new relationships and share best practices, they are shining a light on racial justice, reconfiguring historic relationships and stimulating new action to scale regenerative agriculture,” said Lesley Mitchell, Project Director for GoF. In addition to funding from The VF Foundation to make the convenings possible, VF brand representatives are active participants in the GoF community, assisting in the design to development and ongoing delivery of each workstream.
There are 8 farmer, farmworker and farmer support organizations involved with Growing our Future (GoF), including the National Young Farmers Coalition, National Latino Farmers and Ranchers, Intertribal Agriculture Council, Rural Coalition and Tuskegee University. All of GoF’s BIPOC community partners receive funding to engage across the initiative and their communities to advance systems change in regenerative agriculture.
Haiti’s agricultural economy and climate have been in crisis for decades due to deforestation and a lack of training and resources for smallholder farmers (farmers tending to less than five acres). The Impact Farming Foundation (IFF) is helping to reverse this trend by supporting Haiti’s Smallholder Farmers Alliance (SFA). The SFA aims to revive the agricultural sector and help reforest Haiti by empowering Haitian smallholder farmers to grow, transplant and look after trees as a way to earn credits, or “tree currency,” which they exchange for seeds, tools, training and other services. This year’s funding from The VF Foundation supported development of the SFA supply chain model, increasing overall capacity to help significantly increase the number of farmers growing cotton in partnership with Timberland®. The funding also supported a pilot test for a new data app that can track and measure regenerative cotton production as well as smallholder-planted trees with the aim of scaling practices for global use. The SFA’s regenerative cotton project was announced at The Clinton Global Initiative 2022 meeting alongside the United Nations General Assembly. Additionally, this grant was used to help launch a national youth environmental service program and create a comic book that helped enlist youth as environmental stewards. And, when an earthquake struck the south of Haiti in August 2021, funds from The VF Foundation were used to provide immediate relief and offer long-term recovery support to the nearly 1,000 SFA farm family members who were severely affected.
Protect our Winters (POW) empowers passionate outdoor enthusiasts to help protect the places and lifestyles they love from the impacts of climate change. They are a community of athletes, scientists, creatives and business leaders, across the U.S. and Europe, dedicated to improving low-carbon access and advancing nonpartisan policies that protect the world for future generations. United by their love of the outdoors, POW is where the outdoor community comes together and takes action. Support from The VF Foundation this year helped advance POW’s efforts to elevate diversity, equity, inclusion and justice within the climate movement and fully integrate DEI values and goals across their
programs, partnerships and organization. “Marginalized groups, communities of color and indigenous voices have historically been excluded from conservation and outdoor recreation conversations,” said Mario Molina, Executive Director of Protect our Winters. “With the support of The VF Foundation, we are actively working to highlight more perspectives and amplify voices from the communities who will be most impacted by climate change. We are adding underrepresented perspectives to our Alliances and developing new ways to support our ambassadors and amplify their work and voices.”
People who recreate outdoors are deeply connected to the places in nature that they love, and Outdoor Alliance protects those places by bringing together the voices of America’s outdoor recreation community. “The outdoor community’s engagement and activation on conservation issues has been transformative for the conservation movement,” said Adam Cramer, Outdoor Alliance CEO. “The pandemic made clear the need for all Americans to have access to safe and accessible outdoor experiences. We also knew we needed an even greater focus on equitable access, and a greater investment in both
maintaining public lands and creating new green spaces where they are needed most.” With funding from The VF Foundation, Outside Alliance was instrumental in the U.S.’ commitment to conserve 30 percent of its land and water by 2030; reestablishing protections for Bears Ears and Grand StaircaseEscalante National Monuments; reversing rollbacks in Alaska and taking steps to restore NEPA, a core environmental law, and prioritizing equity on public lands through bills like The Outdoors for All Act. They also worked for the introduction of a historic package of recreation legislation.
2021 GRANT $25,000 2022 GRANT
With funding from The VF Foundation, Outdoor Alliance helped to protect 3.2 million acres of public land in Utah through monument restorations. They organized outdoor enthusiasts to send more than 46,000 messages in support of land conservation and helped shape the Biden administration’s approach to climate policies.
At the end of winter in 1997, Laurent Thurnheer looked down at the melting snow under his chairlift and saw thousands of pieces of waste under the ski lifts. That was the impetus for launching the Summit Foundation in 2001, an independent notfor-profit Swiss foundation. The Foundation focuses on enhancing awareness and education with respect to the environment, developing concrete solutions for waste at ski areas, and coordinating clean-up days as well as scientific environmental research on waste, plastics and microplastics. The Summit Foundation organized 31 CleanUp events in Switzerland and 10 in Italy last year, raising awareness and gathering the community to help protect the mountain ecosystem and its surroundings. “People from all over the world come to interact with this natural environment,” said Téo Gürsoy, Project Manager for the Clean-up Tour. “But, where there’s human activity, there is littering. And trash represents a direct threat to fauna and flora, soils and waters and indirectly to humans. Plastic, for example, breaks into smaller and smaller pieces within decades and can eventually enter the food chain.” The VF Foundation funding helped the Summit Foundation extend their Clean-up Tour to Italy; create “Clean-Mont Blanc,” a scientific research program on microplastics; and fueled an awareness campaign in nearly 50 Swiss ski resorts.
In the heart of Denver, Colorado, Civic Center Park has gone from being a beautiful hub of the city to a place that a large portion of the population avoids and views as unsafe. The Civic Center Conservancy’s primary objective is to create solutions and programs that ensure Civic Center is a place where everyone feels safe and welcomed. With funding from The VF Foundation, the Conservancy launched “WORKS” to engage the unhoused with park upkeep, offer them employment and empower them to become a part of the solution. They also educated the community about coexistence in this public space, creating an inclusive approach with unhoused neighbors. In WORKS’ inaugural season, 24 unique participants dedicated 2,154 hours of work and 10 individuals went on to find permanent employment. The Conservancy also launched “MOVES” aimed at attracting new populations into the park through programming provided for free by three women-owned studios to guide people through yoga, High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and wellnesscentered movement and education. One of the studios, Urban Studios, has a specific and articulated platform that prioritizes minority teachers and practitioners. Throughout the year, 315 people participated in 38 classes. MOVES and WORKS are part of a larger vision for the Conservancy as Denver works to keep the park active and thriving for all, and create opportunities for individuals to utilize the park in a consistent, fulfilling way.
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Community Schoolyards boost student mental health, enhance the physical activity of students and residents, improve educational outcomes and development, bolster economic development, improve community cohesion and can infiltrate storm water, remove air pollution and reduce urban heat islands. Additionally, schoolyards in lower income communities are largely asphalt and unshaded and schools in low-income communities cannot provide their students with the same access to learning resources like outdoor learning labs and educational gardens. That’s why Trust for Public Land (TPL) sees Community Schoolyards as an unprecedented opportunity to enhance
public health, address inequities and improve climate resilience for students and neighborhoods. With The VF Foundation support, TPL is transforming schoolyards into vibrant recreation spaces that are open and accessible to everyone so that all can benefit from the power of nature in close-tohome spaces that meet their community’s unique needs. With funding, TPL’s CORE Fellows and Youth Teams completed park inventories in Denver’s Westwood and Montbello neighborhoods to identify priority park spaces for improvement. It also advanced community-driven designs for Amedee Bregy Elementary in Philadelphia and Bronx Latin School in New York.
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Trust for Public Land (TPL) has worked with more than 70 tribes and Indigenous communities for almost three decades in order to protect and return 200,000 acres of ancestral homelands and create community gathering places. “We are committed to working hand-in-hand with tribes and Indigenous communities to reclaim their traditional lands, reconnect to sacred places and create quality outdoor spaces,” said Mary Chranko, Director of Corporate Partnerships at TPL. “To accomplish this, we are developing trusting relationships, demonstrating respect for Indigenous people’s histories, cultures, and elevating Indigenous leadership.” The funds from The VF Foundation were used to support the
Tribal and Indigenous Summit to explore how to accelerate TPL’s work. The summit included 11 Native community leaders from as far away as Hawaii. “Thanks to The VF Foundation’s support, we advanced initial Tribal and Indigenous Lands planning and have laid the groundwork for a thoughtfully designed and meaningful program,” said Mary. This includes expanding TPL’s evidence-based climate justice work which aims to improve health, climate, equity and educational outcomes for students and their communities. The program will also catalyze the development of new green schoolyards on nature-deprived Tribal lands through a pilot project with the Bureau of Indian Education.
Trust for Public Land is committed to supporting Native Americans in reclaiming their traditional lands and creating quality outdoor spaces by working with Indigenous leadership in land-back efforts, parks and green space building and advocating for public funding for these efforts.Photo Credit: Paul Robert Wolf Wilson, courtesy of Trust for Public Land
We helped to aid Ukrainian refugees, supported clean-up and rebuilding efforts from wildfires and floods and united our family of brands to raise funds for other disaster relief projects around the world.
In October 2021, crude oil spilled into the ocean near Huntington Beach, California. Vans® and The VF Foundation supported clean-up, restoration and conservation efforts through grants to Bolsa Chica Conservancy, Orange County Coastkeeper and Surfrider Foundation
In December 2021, the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history, the Marshall Fire, destroyed more than 1,000 homes in Boulder County. A $67,000 matching grant from The VF Foundation and VF associates supported families with recovery and rebuilding support.
In Summer 2021, Western Europe experienced devastating infrastructure damage and loss of lives due to catastrophic flooding. The VF Foundation supported Aktion Deutschland Hilft e.V. and German Red Cross, via GlobalGiving, to provide emergency shelter, psychosocial support and infrastructure rebuilding.
In December 2021, Malaysia experienced historic rains and floods. The VF Foundation supported the Malaysian Relief Agency’s relief and recovery efforts, via GlobalGiving, including flood repair and food assistance for Indigenous students who are often left behind in Malaysia’s education system.
In Fall 2021, the National Forest Foundation and Conservation Corps of Long Beach, via a grant from The VF Foundation, employed Latinx youth to restore 17 miles of popular trails damaged by wildfires in the Cleveland National Forest.
VF associates coordinated sample sales to raise funds and donate shoes, clothing and backpacks to support disaster relief efforts around the world through partners of The VF Foundation, including outfitting victims of the Marshall Fire and Ukrainian refugees across Europe.
In response to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, The VF Foundation provided a $250,000 grant to support more than 6 million refugees displaced by the Russian invasion, including providing temporary shelter and cash assistance for the most vulnerable families.
The VF Foundation matched VF associate donations and brand sample sales to amplify support for GlobalGiving’s Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund. $166,000 was collectively donated to provide shelter, health and psychosocial support, educational resources and economic assistance to refugees.
From renovating schools to helping cleanup and preserve our adored outdoors, volunteerism energized employees around the world as we worked together to be agents for social change.
Vans® associates volunteered during Earth Week with Orange County Coastkeeper. They collected 70 lbs of trash from Huntington Beach and 79 lbs of trash from San Clemente Beach to leave a positive footprint on the ocean and reduce plastic pollution.
Denver Parks & Recreation activated local VF associates as volunteers for clean-ups at Confluence Park and Sloan’s Lake Park near VF’s global headquarters to help maintain an attractive and safe urban environment.
The NC Recreation & Park Association recognized VF Corporation and The VF Foundation with their Corporate Humanitarian Award for longtime support of and volunteer engagement with Greensboro Parks & Recreation, including building and maintaining public trails.
Timberland® associates rolled up their sleeves to help renovate a primary school in Schleiden, Germany to ensure children could quickly return to the classroom following catastrophic flooding across Europe.
VF employees contributed over 167,500 volunteer hours from FY 2019 through FY 2022 to deliver positive impact on people, communities and our shared planet.
VF brands contributed volunteer time and inkind donations to the Marshall Fire Support Store, by Basecamp Collective, that was made available to individuals and families affected by the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history.
Volunteers from The North Face® mentored young creatives in the Creators Studio summer program at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver.
Dickies® associates came together to support long-time partner and friends at 4DWN Project in Dallas, Texas, helping them clean and prepare their facility for “The 4DWN Experience”, a community event rooted in skateboarding culture, food justice and conservation.
Employee volunteer time and in-kind donations of more than 1,500 backpacks and over 500 pairs of shoes were provided to the Cambodian Children’s Fund to help students on their journey to becoming tomorrow’s leaders.
TONY COTTONARO
Vice President, Treasurer, VF Corporation
Foundation Treasurer
JENN SIM
Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary, VF Corporation
Foundation Secretary
CRAIG HODGES
Vice President, Corporate Affairs & Communications, VF Corporation
REYNA ALISHIO
Senior Director, Marketing, Altra®
SARAH CROCKETT
Global Chief Marketing Officer, Dickies®
LAUREN GUTHRIE
Vice President, Global IDEA & Talent Development, VF Corporation
MORGAN HAWLEY FORD
Vice President, Business Strategy, Vans®
ATLANTA MCILWRAITH
Director, Social Impact & Activation, Timberland®
ERIC RAYMOND
Director, Social Impact & Advocacy, The North Face®
JEANNIE RENNE-MALONE
Vice President, Global Sustainability, VF Corporation
JULIE SUTTON
Senior Director, Government Affairs, VF Corporation
PATRICK TEWKSBURY
Vice President, Global Indirect Procurement, VF Corporation
COLIN WHEELER
Vice President, Corporate Communications, VF Corporation
GLORIA SCHOCH
Executive Director, The VF Foundation & Senior Director, VF Corporation
JENNIFER MARGOLES
Program Manager, The VF Foundation & VF Corporation