“This isn’t an inspiration. This isn’t just a commitment. We are going to do this.” Standing in Times Square in New York City, bystanders watched hundreds of Gap employees placing different colored discs on a installation. As all of the pieces came together, a photo of Sujatha, began to appear. And just as the installation became complete, Executive Director of P.A.C.E. Global Initiatives, Dotti Hatcher, took the stage and shared a story about the evolution of the program, and the recently announced goals for 2020. 

On September 28, at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting, Gap Inc. CEO, Art Peck, announced a commitment to expand the program to reach one million women worldwide by 2020. Mashable and Passion Passport’s Zach Glassman and Zach Fackrell were on the scene to document the building of P.A.C.E’s inspirational art installation — check out the timelapse video below to see how it all came together.

P.A.C.E. Background“I want to be a role model for all women in Indonesia.” These are the words of Emawati, a female garment worker. Emawati is just one of the over 30,000 women who has participated in the Gap Inc. P.A.C.E. (Personal Advancement & Career Enhancement) program since it launched in 2007. Eighty percent of garment workers are women. These women are less likely to advance than men because they don’t have the same opportunities for education or training to move forward in both their personal and professional lives. This fact inspired Gap Inc. to start P.A.C.E., in order to provide women like Emawati the education needed to build self-confidence, empower them to pursue their goals and fulfill their ambitions to realize their highest potential. It wasn’t always Emawati’s ambition to be a role model. Emawati commented that before the P.A.C.E. program she was shy, and in solving her problems she could only cry and be unhappy. “I had such low self-esteem ... now I am able to solve my problems, and I want to be a successful businesswoman inside and outside of my family,” she said.In the eight years since launching, P.A.C.E. has expanded to 10 countries — and at the heart of the program is education. Through courses such as communication, problem solving and decision-making, time-management and financial literacy, women gain new skills, and the confidence to create goals for themselves at work and at home. Phase two of the program offers opportunities for enhanced technical training, allowing women to sharpen their existing skills — which puts them in a better position for upward mobility in their careers. It is not a training program but a “life learning program” and the stories of the women who’ve participated bring to life the effects it can have not only on the women themselves, but also their households, communities and workplaces worldwide.

It is because of stories like these and the program’s results that, in 2012, former President Bill Clinton was inspired to issue a challenge to Gap Inc. for the program to reach even more women. The P.A.C.E. program has accepted this challenge. To reach one million women, P.A.C.E. will continue to expand beyond factories and into communities throughout the world. The program will also create new curricula to reach girls and women who have the potential to expand their leadership capabilities. By 2020, through partnerships and collaborations, Gap Inc. has committed to reach one million women — women like Van, Harshani, Emawati and Sujatha — all with their own stories, abilities, goals and potential.