Over the years Target has earned a reputation of providing a stellar shopping experience for customers, but they’ve also long been an ally to communities of color as well. Their latest move proves to be no different.
Target and the Target Foundation recently announced an investment of $100 million through 2025 to help advance racial equity and fuel economic prosperity in Black communities across the country. The retailer is also a founding supporter of the PENSOLE Lewis College of Business & Design on its journey to becoming the nation’s first re-opened HBCU and the first HBCU to focus on design.
This commitment is part of the retailer’s Target Forward strategy and vision to co-create an equitable future for all, as well as an example of its Racial Equity Action and Change strategy in action.
Target’s Racial Equity Action and Change (REACH) committee was established in 2020 and accelerates the retailer’s strategic work to create racial equity for Black team members, guests and communities. REACH builds on 15 years of progress in creating a diverse workforce, and setting diversity and inclusion goals for Target’s team and business.
A new chapter in that strategy — a scholarship program that will support students at more than a dozen Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The Target Scholars Program will provide 1,000 first-year students at more than a dozen HBCUs $5,000 scholarships, plus mentoring, internship opportunities, networking and more throughout their college career.
“Target has worked closely with HBCUs for years, and we’re excited to deepen our partnership as these scholarships and support will provide more possibilities for Black students,” says Damu McCoy, Target’s vice president of talent acquisition. “It gives me immense pride to see Target continue to invest to create equity and opportunity and help students succeed both during and after college.”
Longtime partners at UNCF (United Negro College Fund) will identify recipients, with a focus on those going into the fields of technology, design, and leadership.
The new scholarship program builds on a number of commitments Target has made as part of its REACH strategy. This includes increasing Black representation across their team over the next three years and spending more than $2 billion with Black-owned businesses by the end of 2025 to create more equitable shopping experiences for their Black guests.
