Women are the fabric that holds the world together.
When a woman moves ahead, we all do. One Stitch Closer
shares inspiring stories of women everywhere, who by
improving their own lives, bring us one stitch closer
to a brighter tomorrow.
Growing up, Ema believed that women were weak and couldn't speak up for themselves. Since joining P.A.C.E., she has come to learn that women are strong
and capable of achieving their goals. The financial skills she's learned from the program have helped her start a small business in her free time
selling Indonesian headscarves online. Ema also loves to cook and hopes to one day open her own restaurant. She hopes her story will inspire other
Indonesian women to be independent.
Azure Antoinette
Founder, The Aalchemik Collective & STUDIO:alchemy
Azure Antoinette is a poet, spoken word artist, and youth and arts advocate whose performance poetry
explores the ways social media is reshaping humanity. She is the CEO of The Aalchemik Collective,
a creative talent incubator, and STUDIO:alchemy,
an arts-in-education program that responds to the call for artistic opportunity and seeks to make a difference by providing
young millennials with the opportunity to discover their own passions.
Veronika Scott
CEO/Founder, The Empowerment Plan
Veronika Scott was a product design student in Detroit when she invented a water-resistant and self-heating coat that transforms into a sleeping bag for
the homeless. After spending
months at local homeless shelters, Veronika discovered that what these individuals needed more than coats were jobs, and so
began The Empowerment Plan.
Today, the non-profit employs homeless women, teaching them skills that empower them to take their lives back while creating a product for a community
they were once a part of.
Isoh
P.A.C.E. Graduate & Instructor
One of six children, Isoh began working at a young age in order to help provide for her family. She had always wanted to go to school, but the education
of her brothers was prioritized. When she learned of P.A.C.E., Isoh saw that it was a second chance at the education she dreamt of. The program has
taught her communication skills, confidence, and gratitude; she has been promoted twice and is now a supervisor and P.A.C.E. instructor. Her childhood
dream of becoming a teacher is now a reality.
Ira Puspadewi
Director, P.A.C.E. Global Initiatives
Ira Puspadewi is the Director of Gap Inc. P.A.C.E. Global Initiatives. She grew up in Indonesia with 10 brothers and sisters. Her father passed away at a
young age and Ira's mother instilled in her the importance of education. At 10 years old, she developed a "school" in which she taught life skills to
young girls of her extended family. The sentiment of the school she created stuck with her and Ira has dedicated her life to educating, inspiring, and
empowering women. She continues to be a strong role model for the P.A.C.E. students.
Brittany Wenger
Creator, Cloud4Cancer
Since the seventh grade, Brittany Wenger has been studying neural networks. As a high school senior at
The Out of Door Academy, she created
a breast cancer diagnosis test called Cloud4Cancer, a program that aggregates data from tests done through fine-needle aspiration, providing
exceptionally accurate diagnoses in a cheaper, less painful and less
invasive way than traditional biopsies. Today, she's continuing her research to find cures for cancer with her sights set on pediatric oncology.
Bernice Daapah
Founder, Ghana Bamboo Bikes
Bernice Daapah is a Ghanian social entrepreneur and CEO of Ghana Bamboo Bikes. After a difficult upbringing, she decided to start a business that would
positively impact women in Ghana. In 2009, with support from the
Clinton Global Initiative, she founded Ghana Bamboo Bikes as a way to employ and empower women while also using renewable resources to satisfy a need in
her community. By building high quality, handcrafted bicycles using
locally sourced bamboo, Bernice and the women she employs are able to provide a means of transportation to girls who would otherwise be forced to walk
miles to get to school.
How to Build a Bamboo Bike
Bernice shows us the process of building a Bamboo Bike - using the natural resources of Ghana - from start to finish.
Francesca Kennedy
Founder, Ix Style
Francesca Kennedy grew up visiting her grandfather on Lake Atitlán in Guatemala. When she returned in her adulthood, she found the beautiful lake
of her childhood completely contaminated.
Determined to make a change and give back to the community, she founded Ix Style. Her business supports local Mayan artisans who craft traditional
sandals from leather and hand-woven textiles.
The shoes are then sold to a global market, with each sale helping to provide clean drinking water to women and children in Guatemala. Francesca
continues to grow the business and create powerful change.
Limited Edition Ix Style Sandals
These limited edition sandals were created in partnership with Francesca's company Ix Style. By choosing Ix Style sandals, you're helping
to support her mission to provide clean drinking water to women and children in Guatemala.
Women are the fabric that holds the world together; so when they move forward we all move forward.
One Stitch Closer is a program that extends Gap's long-standing commitment to supporting women. At the center of
the program is P.A.C.E. (Personal Advancement & Career Enhancement), a Gap Inc. program which has provided life skills education to
over 30,000 female garment workers around the world - and the number is growing every day.
One Stitch Closer shares the stories, ideas, accomplishments, and challenges of these women and other change agents,
who focus on making themselves and the world better every day. This program is a small step to creating big change.
By inspiring each other every day, we get one stitch closer to a brighter world.
About Gap Inc. P.A.C.E.
Advancing Women to Advance the World
By leveraging our resources, and partnerships with community organizations, we have an opportunity to help women everywhere get
the skills and education they need to move forward in the workplace and in life. P.A.C.E. (Personal Advancement & Career Enhancement),
a Gap Inc. program provides the women who make our clothes with life skills, education, and technical training. More than 30,000 women have participated in
the program so far and the number is growing every day. When women are able to advance at the workplace, they help advance their families
and communities. That's the power of P.A.C.E.
Bernice
Founder, Ghana Bamboo Bikes
Emawati
P.A.C.E. Participant
Azure
Founder, The Aalchemik Collective &
Brittany
Creator, Cloud4Cancer
Veronika
CEO/Founder, The Empowerment Plan
Isoh
P.A.C.E. Graduate & Instructor
Gap presents
One Stitch Closer
