Hope Street Group launched the Retail Opportunity Network (RON), funded by Walmart Giving’s $100 Million Opportunity Initiative, in 2015. RON is a collection of over 70 organizations working collaboratively to drive system change for the U.S. retail workforce by developing ways to make it easier for frontline retail workers to advance in their careers. Between 2015-2019, Hope Street Group collaborated with RON members to share best practices, collective learnings, and promote solutions designed to address signaling efficiencies across the retail sector.
In May 2019, Hope Street Group partnered with FSG, a mission-driven consulting firm with deep experience in learning community management and a long-time contributor to the RON, to help the Network transition into a new phase and take the reins of this learning community. Learn more about their latest work with the RON by visiting retailopportunitynetwork.org.
IMPACT
As of 2019, RON members were spread across the country in 32 states and 70 major metro areas. Over 200 individuals and 70 organizations participated in events or communications hosted by Hope Street Group. Through these points of connection Hope Street Group successfully helped RON members adopt or adapt new tools and technologies, increased collaboration between RON members, codified shared learning across organizations, and amplified the role of retail as a sector of opportunity. Read more in the RON Summary Report here (link to report which should be posted in Publications).
WHY
With 1-in-4 jobs in the United States supported by retail, it is a crucial sector in our economy – and so are its 16 million workers. Retail jobs go beyond just sales jobs, and in fact, the sector offers a variety of desirable career opportunities for the American workforce – including jobs in software, IT, security and marketing, as well as careers in management.[1] Yet, retail has one of the highest turnover rates of any sector, meaning millions of Americans may be missing out on opportunities for a career path that offers advancement and income growth.[2]
Retail America: Pathways to Opportunity
Don’t miss the archive of the Retail America podcast!
Episode 1: Retail is an Opportunity Sector
Julie Gehrki, Vice President of Programs at the Walmart Foundation, shares insights into retail as a sector of opportunity by highlighting Walmart’s best practices and strategies for advancing frontline retail workers.
Episode 2: How can Employers Overcome Low Unemployment?
Pat Steele, Project Director at Central Iowa Works, shares insights into how employers are overcoming low numbers of job applicants and providing wrap around services that overcome employment barriers as well as general insights into the Des Moines retail sector.
Episode 3: The Benefits of Upskilling Frontline Workers
Jaime Fall, Director of UpSkill America, shares how upskilling programs benefit frontline workers and their employers, and provides insights from the latest upskilling programs across America.
Episode 4: New Approaches to Frontline Training
Demetra Brown, Program Manager at Generation, explores new approaches to training, the training’s impact on frontline workers and employers’ perceptions on ROI from building frontline training programs.
Episode 5: Job Quality and Worker Mobility Matter
Alita Bezanis, of Pete’s Fresh Market, Yesenia Cervantes, from Instituto del Progreso Latino and Jenny Weissbourd, from Reimagine Retail at the Aspen Institute, share insights into worker mobility, job quality and economic stability within the retail sector.
Episode 6: How Can Employers Better Support Frontline Workers?
Amanda Willard, Senior Talent Acquisition Leader at T-Mobile and Nicole Trimble, Executive Director for the Talent Rewire initiative at FSG, discuss supporting frontline retail workers, developing ROI metrics for new frontline training systems and forming partnerships to recruit future frontline workers.
EPISODE 7: BUILDING A RETAIL ECOSYSTEM
Holly Kurtz, Director of the Retail Sector Initiative at the Center for the Future of Arizona (CFA), shares insights about the retail sector in Arizona and explores topics related to upward mobility, best practices for training frontline workers, employer engagement and future retail trends.
EPISODE 8: CONNECTING ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS READY TO ENTER THE WORKFORCE
Lex Dennis, Director of Lifelong Learning at the Drucker Institute and Fred Teague, consultant for the High Potential Employee/Preferred Employer Program within the Lifelong Learning Initiative in South Bend, Indiana share insights about community engagement models, hallmarks and theories of change for the Lifelong Learning Initiative as well as ways the Drucker Institute and key community partners are connecting organizations and individuals ready to enter the South Bend workforce.
EPISODE 9: ACCELERATING SOLUTIONS FOR WORK-BASED LEARNING
Eric M. Seleznow, Senior Advisor and Director of Jobs for the Future’s Center for Apprenticeship & Work-Based Learning, and Stephen Yadzinski, Managing Director of Acceleration for JFFLabs, explore the changing world of work in retail and discuss training solutions, including work-based learning and education technology, that innovative programs like JFFLabs’ Acceleration cohort promote.