Website Offers DEI Resources for Gift Card Industry
The Incentive Gift Card Council (IGCC) and the Retail Gift Card Association (RGCA) have launched a new website: Diversity-in-giftcards.org. The website is one of several initiatives from a collaboration between the two organizations that started in 2020 when RGCA and IGCC leaders agreed the industry needed to take action to help promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The Diversity-in-giftcards.org website offers an overview of the initiative and provides educational tools and extensive resources for fostering dialogue and advocating for DEI best practices.
By raising awareness and encouraging people from a wide array of diverse backgrounds to become involved in gift cards, the associations hope the gift card industry will better reflect the people, organizations and marketplaces it serves.Since those early conversations, a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Advisory Board was formed, joint conversations were held with RGCA and IGCC members and plans developed.
IGCC President Benita Johnson, CPIM, Home Chef, also chairs the joint DEI Advisory Board. “In the summer of 2020, it became important for our associations to stand in solidarity, be part of the solution, and lead by example. The Diversity-in-giftcards.org website has been a labor of love, and I’m proud to be a part of the IGCC and RGCA’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. We are taking action and building ways for our members to fight against inequality. This will hopefully translate to creating a program for people in under-served communities where they feel valued and have clear pathways to opportunities in the gift card industry,” Johnson explains.
The Diversity-in-giftcards.org website provides educational tools and resources for fostering dialogue and advocating for DEI best practices. RGCA Board Chair Laura Parker, Best Buy, says she is excited about the work and progress RGCA and IGCC are making. “The RGCA hosts joint Virtual Coffee Breaks where participants have open discussions on how the gift card industry and members can support diversity, equity and inclusion. The RGCA motto this year is ‘better together’. I applaud the work of the DEI Advisory Board. The website is the latest resource developed supporting our joint purpose,” Parker adds.
The Incentive Gift Card Council (IGCC), a Strategic Industry Group of the Incentive Marketing Association (IMA), promotes the value of gift cards for incentive and recognition programs to enhance business performance. IGCC member companies are the elite among retail, catalog, and performance improvement agencies, offering cards and certificates that can be redeemed for merchandise, travel, food, accommodations and services. IGCC members provide all products and services needed to successfully design, print, package and implement highly successful B2B or B2C gift card programs.
The Retail Gift Card Association (RGCA) is the nonprofit trade association that represents the closed-loop gift category. The association’s mission is to protect, promote and enhance the use of retail gift cards as forms of branded currency and stored value solutions that enable, enrich, and encourage commerce. All RGCA members abide by a Code of Principles that supports consumer-friendly policies for the purchase and redemption of closed-loop gift cards. RGCA’s membership comprises retailers from all sectors, including restaurants, general merchandise, apparel, sporting and leisure, and non-retailers.
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