Gap Inc. Announces Commitment to Advance the Lives of One Million Women Through Expansion of Its Award-Winning, Signature Education Program

By sharing its proprietary P.A.C.E. program with other organizations,
company seeks to harness collective action for the advancement of women
throughout the world

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Art Peck, chief executive officer of Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS), announced
today a significant Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Action to
advance the lives of one million women by 2020 by expanding the
company’s award-winning life-skills education program, Gap Inc. P.A.C.E.
(Personal Advancement & Career Enhancement).

To achieve this ambitious goal, Peck outlined plans to continue scaling
the P.A.C.E. program within Gap Inc.’s global supply chain and in
communities around the world. Additionally, P.A.C.E. will broaden into a
suite of learning programs with new curriculum to reach adolescent girls
in their communities as well as a women’s leadership program for
P.A.C.E. graduates or women in communities who have demonstrated
leadership ability. And, for the first time, Gap Inc. will offer access
to this signature proprietary program to global partners and other
corporations to further broaden the program’s reach.

“From Phnom Penh to Pittsburgh, women share in common an ambition to
advance. What some lack are opportunities, particularly access to
education,” said Peck. “We are committed to advancing the lives of one
million women by expanding our P.A.C.E. program, and we hope others will
join us. We know that with the right opportunities, women become
powerful agents of change in their families and in their communities.”

Launched in 2007, P.A.C.E. delivers tangible change in women’s lives.
Designed as an education program offering life-skills classes to female
garment workers, the holistic curriculum includes up to 80 hours of
classes in as many as nine subject areas, such as communication skills;
financial literacy; time and stress management; and problem solving and
decision-making.

P.A.C.E.’s evaluation
results have demonstrated that the program improves the lives of
women and their families by developing women’s knowledge, skills and
confidence. The program also has a strong business impact by reducing
turnover and absenteeism. Among the awards P.A.C.E. has received is the
2014 Empowerment of Women Award by the Global CSR Summit & Awards.

P.A.C.E. caught the attention of President Bill Clinton in 2012, at
which time the former president encouraged Gap Inc. to consider
expanding the footprint of P.A.C.E. to benefit more women globally. It
was therefore fitting that Peck delivered the company’s commitment at
the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting, held this week in New York.

To date, P.A.C.E. has reached more than 30,000 women in ten countries.
Gap Inc. initially offered the program in factories manufacturing its
products. In 2012 the company expanded the program into community
settings. With this announcement, the curriculum can now be leveraged in
a variety of settings with a broad set of partners.

Today’s announcement will further expand P.A.C.E.’s reach by:

• Collaborating with new and existing partners, including others in the
  garment industry, corporations, development agencies, and NGOs, to
  reach one million women in both manufacturing and community settings.
• Opening the proprietary program to select partners, through a no-fee,
  franchise-type model. These new partners will receive extensive
  training on the P.A.C.E. curriculum in order to replicate the
  program’s success.
• Expanding the scope of the P.A.C.E. curriculum to create a suite of
  learning programs, including a new educational program for girls in
  the community, ages 13-18, and a new women’s leadership curriculum.

“P.A.C.E.’s newly expanded life-skills education program is designed to
meet the needs of women and girls wherever they are in their lives,”
said Dotti Hatcher, Gap Inc. Executive Director, P.A.C.E. Global
Programs. “The new curricula will give girls the skills, confidence and
technical abilities they need to change the trajectory of their lives
and empower women to lead their communities. We believe in advancing
women to advance the world.”

Longtime P.A.C.E. partners Swasti Health Resource Centre, an
international organization focused on public health outcomes for the
poor; the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), a global
institute dedicated to empowering women; and CARE, a leading global
humanitarian organization, will continue to play pivotal roles in the
program’s expansion.

To mark the call to action to educate one million women, hundreds of Gap
Inc. employees will gather in Times Square on Wednesday, September 30 to
build a pop-up artistic representation of just one of the incredible
women who have graduated from the P.A.C.E. program.

About Gap Inc.

Gap Inc. is a leading global retailer offering product collections and
personal care products for men, women, and children under the Gap,
Banana Republic, Old Navy, Athleta, and Intermix brands. Fiscal year
2014 net sales were $16.4 billion. Gap Inc. products are available for
purchase in more than 90 countries worldwide through about 3,300
company-operated stores, over 400 franchise stores, and e-commerce
sites. For more information, please visit www.gapinc.com.

Gap Inc. strives to make a positive impact in the communities where it
does business. The company partners with community organizations to
focus on programs that align with its business expertise, believing it
can make the biggest difference by advancing women, teens and young
adults and through supporting volunteers. For more information please
visit www.bewhatspossible.com.

Launched in 2007, Gap Inc.’s P.A.C.E. program creates opportunities for
women to advance in their careers and personal lives. For more
information on Gap Inc.’s P.A.C.E. program and other community
investments, please visit www.gap.com/pace.

About the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)

Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global
Initiative (CGI)—an initiative of the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton
Foundation—convenes global leaders to create and implement innovative
solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. CGI Annual Meetings
have brought together more than 180 heads of state, 20 Nobel Prize
laureates, and hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations and NGOs,
major philanthropists, and members of the media. To date, members of the
CGI community have made nearly 3,200 commitments, improving the lives of
more than 430 million people in over 180 countries.

CGI also convenes CGI America, a meeting focused on collaborative
solutions to economic recovery in the United States, and CGI University
(CGI U), which brings together undergraduate and graduate students to
address pressing challenges in their community or around the world. For
more information, visit clintonglobalinitiative.org
and follow us on Twitter @ClintonGlobal
and Facebook at facebook.com/clintonglobalinitiative.

Contacts

Gap Inc.
Laura Wilkinson, 415-427-5335
Press@gap.com