Diversity & Inclusion

Lists are a good way to start a debate, depending on who is included or left off, and that is sure to be the case with a newly released compilation of the 25 individuals the National Retail Federation Foundation has included on the 2016’s List of People Shaping Retail’s Future.

Janna Potts has been named chief stores officer at Target, filling a position occupied for the past five years by Tina Tyler.

Target elevated Potts to the role of executive VP and chief stores officer, reporting to COO John Mulligan, after she previously served as senior VP of human resources focused on stores and distribution. Potts is a Target veteran who joined the company’s former Mervyn’s division in 1989. During her 27 year career she held leadership roles in stores, operations and human resources, according to the company.

Retail business industry veteran Lawrence Jackson has been named to the board of directors of cloud-based enterprise retail technology provider Aptos Inc. (formerly Epicor Retail Solutions).

Teen retailer rue21 is collaborating with a youth nonprofit to make a positive impact on the lives of its customers.

The company announced it is partnering with Together We Rise, a nonprofit dedicated to transforming the way youth navigate through the foster care system in America. The collaboration is a new addition to rue21’s philanthropy initiative, rueGIVESback.

Off-price retailer Burlington Stores named the former president and COO of Bright Horizons Family Solutions as the newest member of its nine-person board.

Mary Ann Tocio, former president and COO at Bright Horizons, joins the Burlington board following a 23 year career at the child care company. She retired in July 2015.

With 2016 upon us, many employers find themselves nervously awaiting what election-year politics might bring to their doorsteps. Retailers and restaurant operators, more than ever, have been thrust front and center into the political landscape, with labor issues at the top of candidate's agendas as well as the subject of numerous ballot issues at the state and local level. As a result, the business models and labor practices of entry-level employers are being evaluated by the public in much the same way the candidates are.

Walmart and the Walmart Foundation is out with its annual Giving Report, which puts a monetary value on all the ways the retailer and its charitable arm sought to make a difference during the 2015 fiscal year.

From a big picture standpoint, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation donated more than $1.4 billion in cash and in kind donations, primarily food, and Walmart’s 2.2 million employees also contributed more than 1.5 million hours of their time outside of work to volunteer causes.

Walmart and the Walmart Foundation is out with its annual Giving Report which puts a monetary value on all the ways the retailer and its charitable arm sought to make a difference during the 2015 fiscal year.

From a big picture standpoint, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation donated more than $1.4 billion in cash and in kind donations, primarily food, and Walmart’s 2.2 million employees also contributed more than 1.5 million hours of their time outside of work to volunteer causes.