Coach is detailing its philanthropic milestones in its first social impact report.
The Tapestry Inc.-owned fashion brand released the report on Wednesday in celebration of the fifth anniversary of the Coach Foundation’s “Dream It Real” program, which is its charitable initiative that offers educational support to young students.
“We really focused on serving populations that didn’t get the benefit of a college education and what we realized was we had to take an approach that was multifaceted,” said Coach chief executive officer and brand president, Todd Kahn. “So, we obviously are doing meaningful scholarships, but in addition to the scholarships the program of ‘Dream It Real’ has mentorship and engagement. It’s really this transformational support that we feel makes the difference.”
Coach’s social impact report shows that the company has awarded 5,279 scholarships to students, surpassing its goal of distributing 5,000 scholarships by 2025. The report also shows that Coach has assisted more than 170,000 students through the “Dream It Real” initiative, with eight programs launched globally, 250 college students paired with Coach and Tapestry mentors and roughly $40 million in products donated to various causes.
“When we think about our purpose and the ‘Courage to Be Real,’ those words are the manifestation of what we excavated,” Kahn said. “We always have that authentic product — we always had product that proved over time that we were not pure fashion. We think we’re very fashionable, but we are timeless, and I think that realness is so important. We are very focused on inspiring a younger consumer.”
Among the “Dream It Real” scholars, the report indicates nearly 90 percent are first-generation college students. This statistic stood out to Kahn, as he, too, was the first person in his family to go to college, he said.
“My parents were immigrants to this country,” he said. “I was the first person in my family to go to college. In those communities, you don’t always have a support network. You don’t have references, you don’t have mentors, you don’t have people you can look up to and say, ‘Oh I know what to do,’ or [where to] get that advice. So, the ‘Dream It Real’ program isn’t just giving any dream you have and we’ll make it real — that’s unfortunately not in our ability, I’m not the ‘Wizard of Oz’ — but what we can do is really increase one’s chances for success.”
The report also details the work Coach has done with organizations such as the Council of Fashion Designers of America, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and the Hetrick-Martin Institute, as well as its work in countries like China, Japan and the U.K.
Going forward, Kahn explained Coach’s philanthropic efforts will continue to focus on education and the youth with the goal of hitting another charitable milestone in the next few years.
