The VF Foundation has allotted its 2022 grants of $8.3 million to 60 organisations globally to work on innovative contributions towards creating a more equitable and sustainable future.
- Nearly $2,635,000 of the supported causes are aimed at creating more inclusive and accessible outdoor spaces; $2,682,500 for women’s empowerment and community development; $1,642,000 for projects in sustainable innovation; and the remaining investments would go towards scholarships and mentorship programmes created to ensure more diverse representation in the apparel, footwear and outdoor industries.
Some of the major grantees:
- Biomimicry Institute (Global): ‘Design for Decomposition’ pilots cutting-edge research to test technologies to convert post-consumer clothes and textiles waste into biocompatible raw materials. The pilots will take place in Western Europe and Ghana, testing the most promising decomposition technologies that are commercially viable but have yet to scale, with supporting research in the US.
- Soil Health Institute (US): The grant to the US Regenerative Cotton Fund will help advance the adoption of soil health management systems across more than 1 million acres of cotton cropland to mitigate the effects of climate change, improve cotton producers’ livelihoods, and create a more resilient future for all. The goal of the fund is to draw down 1 million metric tonnes of CO2e from the atmosphere by 2026 through increased adoption of regenerative soil health practices by cotton farmers.
- Industrial Commons (US): Material Return, a leading circular economy social enterprise platform, is transforming textile waste into new yarn. The VF Foundation’s investment in this project is intended to divert millions of pounds of textile waste from the landfill, provide quality jobs to textile workers, and develop a system that national brands can access to enhance circularity for new products.
- Savory Institute (Europe): This pilot grant aims to help shift large areas of grasslands across the Iberian Peninsula to regenerative management within five years through capacity building, holistic management training, and ecological data monitoring at scale. The pilot will also help to elevate and equip communities whose livelihoods rely on healthy, productive lands, with the vision of fueling the transition of regenerative food and textile fibre products to markets in Europe.
- Redress (Asia): The VF Foundation provides funding for Redress' new strategy for closing sustainability knowledge and skill gaps within the industry. This project will map the current fashion industry landscape across Asia, identify apparel production and waste hotspots, and publish key findings and recommendations for the greatest areas of opportunities in the region.
- Trust for Public Land (US): The trust was granted $250K for its evidence-based climate justice programme which aims to improve health, climate, equity, and educational outcomes for students and their communities. The funds will catalyse the development of new green schoolyards on nature-deprived tribal lands through a pilot project with the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE).
- The Resilience Fund for Women in Global Value Chains (Southeast Asia): The VF Foundation helped launch this groundbreaking new fund spearheaded by Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), the United Nations Foundation’s Universal Access Project, and Women Win/Win-Win Strategies to bring together corporate investors, foundations, and NGO partners to transform philanthropy and invest in the health, safety, and economic resilience of the women who form the backbone of global value chains. The Fund aims to raise at least $10 million in pooled funding over three years to support locally driven solutions to the systemic problems that make women more vulnerable to crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. This second year of funding will support women-led, women-serving feminist movements in Vietnam and Cambodia.
- Shimmy Technologies, Inc (Bangladesh): This organisation is addressing the digital gender divide and empowering the next generation of garment workers by developing and piloting video game-based skilled training programmes to upskill women in their field with the goal of building financial resiliency and creating new job opportunities for the unemployed.
- WaterAid (Cambodia): In Cambodia, one in four people don't have access to clean drinking water, disproportionately affecting women, girls, and people living with disabilities. With the support of The VF Foundation’s grant, WaterAid is addressing these issues head-on, prioritising women's participation and leadership in climate-resiliency. It will also inform programme design, decision-making and implementation ensuring that access to clean water, hygiene, and sanitation at work and home are sustainable for everyone for years to come.
- Uvalde CISD Moving Forward Foundation (Texas): It was granted $500K towards the capital campaign of a new elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. The investment will be leveraged to construct a gym and outdoor design elements to help Uvalde students and the community heal and thrive through physical activity and outdoor exploration.
The Foundation: The VF Foundation is the private grantmaking organisation funded by VF Corporation, one of the world’s largest apparel, footwear and accessories companies with iconic outdoor, active and workwear brands including Vans, The North Face, Timberland, Smartwool, JanSpor® and Dickies.
