Compelling conversations about equity and inclusion

The Equality Lounge pop-up goes virtual at NRF 2021 – Chapter 1
Lottie Watts
Copywriter

NRF continues to facilitate crucial discussions around diversity, equity and inclusion during NRF 2021: Retail’s Big Show – Chapter 1, a virtual event starting January 12. The Equality Lounge pop-up, sponsored by Fiserv and Google Cloud, features a series of virtual sessions focused on diversity within the retail industry.

“There’s all these different elements that go beyond just gender,” says Artemis Berry, vice president of member relations and strategic partnerships at NRF. “We hope this allows attendees to be a part of a really important conversation.”

The Equality Lounge is part of a multi-year partnership between NRF and The Female Quotient, an organization that creates experiential pop-ups with the aim of uniting people to activate change together.

Diversity and inclusion

Learn more about what retailers are doing to become more inclusive here.

Leaders from Procter & Gamble, Savage x Fenty, WW International Inc., ULTA Beauty and vineyard vines are among the featured speakers. They’ll share insights from their wide range of professional experience in startups, established global brands, technology, media and finance with conversations that address timely issues facing retailers.

In recent years at Retail’s Big Show, the sessions have drawn thousands; since Chapter 1 is virtual, Berry says the hope is to reach even more people around the world.

“Mentorship is one of the topics people ask us about the most,” says Berry, who notes that in addition to gender, there are challenges around ethnicity, disability and more as people seek mentors to help them advance and overcome barriers. Discussions will take a deep dive into new ways to foster retail’s future leaders, exploring what’s working and what’s not with the traditional mentorship model.

Additional panels in The Equality Lounge will cover: 

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