MEDIA CONTACT: Sarita Chourey, Open to All | sarita@opentoall.com | (303) 578-4600 X 130
[BOULDER, CO], NOVEMBER 20, 2024 — Open to All® announces its Sixth Annual Holiday Gift Guide. Since 2018, the Open to All Holiday Gift Guide has featured small businesses and iconic brands that are cultivating a culture of belonging this holiday season and year-round.
Open to All’s Holiday Gift Guide highlights companies that invest in customers and their communities. These brands include Anthropologie, Dickies, J.Crew, Kate Spade New York, Petsmart, UGG, and many more. For more than six years, we’ve convened over 200 nonprofit organizations, 99 corporate partners, and nearly 750,000 businesses dedicated to sounding a loud and clear message: We will not return to a time when customers are told, “We don’t serve your kind here.”
With items available in a variety of prices from an extensive array of inclusive retailers, the Holiday Gift Guide connects consumers with brands that value Open to All’s core principle of ensuring every customer feels safe and welcome—regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, immigration status, religion, or disability.
“Our members put competition aside so they can share best practices to create inclusive and equitable businesses. This is a journey our community has committed to taking together, and we have over 750,000 business members working in coalition to welcome you this holiday season.” said Calla Devlin, managing director of Open to All.
This holiday season, Open to All encourages shoppers to support the partnering with us to spread inclusion and respect. Consumers can also shop with the confidence that these products originate from businesses invested in their employees, customers, and communities.
Businesses around the country have already taken the pledge to maintain welcoming and safe environments for everyone. You can find Open to All decals and placards in storefronts across the nation. If you are looking to support Open to All businesses in your city, visit OpenToAll.com to search for nearby businesses. From local restaurants to small businesses to mall stores, we have a wide range of inclusive businesses ready to welcome you. Businesses that wish to join Open to All can learn more and sign the pledge here.
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ABOUT OPEN TO ALL: Open to All is a nondiscrimination program based around the idea that everyone should be welcomed, valued, and respected. Open to All is a growing coalition of more than 200 non-profits, including civil rights and racial justice organizations, disability groups, LGBTQ groups, faith organizations, and more. Open to All also unites thousands of large and small businesses across the country to defend the bedrock principle that when businesses open their doors to the public, they should be Open to All.
[BOULDER, CO] OCTOBER 28, 2024 — Open to All, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a thriving and inclusive nation, today announced the release of its 2024 Impact Report. Since the program’s start in 2017, Open to All has united 99 corporate sponsors, 200+ nonprofit partners, and 760,400 small businesses to ensure everyone is welcome, valued, and respected.
The last two years have seen an unprecedented backlash toward diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. Nevertheless, Open to All remains steadfast in the effort to build a more inclusive nation and world, offering resources that can support partners during these challenging times. This report assesses the program’s impact over the past year, highlighting its growth, interactive programming, resources, and initiatives, such as the Mitigate Racial Bias in Retail Charter.
“With recent political attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion work, including the backlash from the United States Supreme Court decisions on affirmative action and 303 Creative, Open to All is charting a course to deepen the impact of creating a culture of belonging for employees and customers,” said Calla Devlin, managing director of Open to All. “By convening corporations, small businesses, and civil rights organizations, we offers resources, interactive programming, and community to fight discrimination in all its forms.”
Since the launch of Open to All, corporations, retailers, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations alike have come together to proudly affirm that everyone should be welcome regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, immigration status, religion, or disability.
Corporate partners have found Open to All’s community to be an invaluable space to connect with peers, share information and best practices, and garner support for their work. Open to All’s programs have proven impactful supporting businesses as they strive to create a culture of belonging for underrepresented groups. 74% of respondents said joining Open to All strengthened their existing diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and initiatives, with another 13% indicating they were still measuring that impact.
According to one corporate partner, “When we joined Open to All, we were able to clearly and loudly communicate to our organization that we do not tolerate hate or discrimination in our stores.”
The program has seen rapid growth in small business engagement and corporate sponsorship over the past five years. Over 760,400 small businesses have declared themselves Open to All on Yelp, a near 31% increase over three years. With an estimated five million small businesses on Yelp nationwide, nearly 15% have indicated they are Open to All. Over the last five years, almost 100 brands, ranging from SEPHORA to Petco to Crate and Barrel to Airbnb, have joined Open to All’s corporate membership program.
The Impact Report is a testament to Open to All and their collective commitment to cultivating a country where everyone feels safe, respected, and accepted as they live, shop, and work. The full report can be downloaded from Open to All’s website at [web address]. For more information about the Open to All coalition or today’s announcement, please visit OpenToAll.com.
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ABOUT OPEN TO ALL: Open to All is a nondiscrimination program based on the idea that everyone should be welcomed, valued, and respected. Open to All is a growing coalition of more than 200 non-profits, including civil rights and racial justice organizations, disability groups, LGBTQ groups, faith organizations, and more. Open to All also unites thousands of large and small businesses across the country to defend the bedrock principle that when businesses open their doors to the public, they should be Open to All.
[New York, NY], MAY 6, 2024 — Today, Open to All announced the launch of a comprehensive Employee Resource Group Guidebook. This special edition of Seramount’s ERG Leadership Handbook was developed for the Open to All community in partnership with Seramount and Michael Kors. The wide-ranging guidebook is set to transform the way businesses, most notably retailers, build and empower Employee Resource Groups within their organizations.
Employee Resource Groups, or ERGs, deepen employee engagement and belonging. However, ERG management can be challenging and often requires cross-departmental collaboration. The ERG Guidebook is intended to assist Open to All and Seramount partners in harnessing the full potential of ERGs, resulting in inclusive working environments where every employee can thrive.
“Within the Open to All community, especially retail members, ERGs are a frequent topic and the need for a resource that offers guidance and strategies was clear,” said Calla Devlin, Managing Director of Open to All. “Thanks to the generosity of Michael Kors, whose diversity, equity, and inclusion team brought in Seramount as an invaluable resource, we collaborated to create this toolkit. Open to All is deeply grateful to Michael Kors for their leadership and investment in this work.”
Open to All commends Michael Kors for their leadership and investment. In recognition of their dedicated partnership, Michael Kors received the Open to All Collaboration Award at the Second Annual Open to All Convening. This award honors Michael Kors leadership in providing valuable resources for corporations to develop, manage, and grow ERGs.
“At Michael Kors, we prioritize continuous improvement, inclusivity, and cultivating a thriving workplace. Through ERGs, we’re able to empower our employees with support, mentorship, and a safe, judgment-free forum for employees to express themselves, share experiences, and promote peer allyship,” said Semone Bamboat, VP, Global Head Diversity & Inclusion and Talent Acquisition of Capri Holdings Limited, the parent company of Michael Kors. “We’re grateful for our partnerships with organizations like Open to All and Seramount as we collectively work to create a vital resource in the interest of advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
By creating spaces for employees of various backgrounds, cultures, genders, abilities, and orientations to connect, ERGs promote a sense of belonging, offer leadership development opportunities, enhance talent acquisition efforts, and amplify underrepresented voices, which, in turn, boosts overall morale and productivity. Offering Employee Resource Groups isn’t just a matter of corporate social responsibility—it’s a strategic imperative that aligns with business goals.
“Seramount has been a supporter of Open to All from the beginning and we are proud to champion this important work, along with our partner, Michael Kors,” said Katie Oertli Mooney, Managing Director of Seramount. “Because of the unique nuances of ERGs that function in a dispersed retail workforce, those located in the corporate office, the stores, and the distribution centers, it only made sense for our advisors, who specialize in activating ERGs, add their expertise and Seramount’s extensive research, tools, and resources, to this toolkit.”
The ERG Guidebook leverages the latest industry insights to offer data-backed strategies and practical solutions. Within the guidebook, interactive worksheets provide step-by-step instructions detailing the processes of initiating and sustaining ERGs. The guidebook offers access to expert guidance from leading diversity and inclusion specialists, and case studies informed by the experiences of Open to All corporate partners.
In a world where diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging are increasingly critical for business success and societal progress, the ERG Guidebook represents a key milestone in empowering organizations to drive positive change in the lives of their staff members. For more information about the Open to All coalition or today’s announcement, please visit www.OpenToAll.com.
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MEDIA CONTACTS: Sarita Chourey, Open to All | sarita@opentoall.com | (303) 578-4600 X 130
ABOUT OPEN TO ALL: Open to All is a nondiscrimination program based around the idea that everyone should be welcomed, valued, and respected. Open to All is a growing coalition of more than 200 non-profits, including civil rights and racial justice organizations, disability groups, LGBTQ groups, faith organizations, and more. Open to All also unites thousands of large and small businesses across the country to defend the bedrock principle that when businesses open their doors to the public, they should be Open to All.
ABOUT MICHAEL KORS: Michael Kors is a world-renowned, award-winning designer of luxury accessories and ready-to-wear. Established in 1981, the company currently produces a range of products under the signature Michael Kors Collection, MICHAEL Michael Kors and Michael Kors Mens labels. These products include accessories, footwear, watches, jewelry, women’s and men’s ready-to-wear, wearable technology, eyewear and a full line of fragrance products. The company prides itself on hiring and retaining diverse talent and providing an inclusive work culture for all, while celebrating global events and cultures that reflect the diversity, experiences, and perspectives of people around the world.
ABOUT SERAMOUNT: Seramount is a strategic professional services and research firm dedicated to supporting high-performing, inclusive workplaces. Over four decades, we’ve established a strong, data-driven understanding of the employee experience, which lays the groundwork for everything we do. Seramount partners with over 450 of the world’s most influential companies, large and small, to offer pragmatic solutions including best practice DEI research, workplace assessment, employee learning and development, and talent sourcing. These offerings empower organizations to navigate a dynamic corporate environment and to cultivate a resilient, connected workforce that achieves extraordinary outcomes.
