Scene & Heard

Two Ten Introduces Opportunity Grants Program

EXORBITANT TUITION COSTS aside, not every industry employee can afford the time to attend college full-time, or even part-time. Still, many are interested in educational opportunities that could advance their careers—if they had the funds to take such courses.

Enter Two Ten Foundation’s new Opportunity Grants program aimed at supporting employees who want to pursue skills-focused training, obtain certifications or complete other types of professional development to advance their careers. The first wave of grants—amounts are expected to range from $500 to $2,500—will be awarded to female applicants, who happen to have accounted for more than 70 percent of the requests for emergency relief since the onset of the pandemic.

“Most of these women are in warehouse or retail jobs, where there are limited prospects for moving up,” says DeAnna Langone, manager of educational grant and scholarship programs for Two Ten. “So, the same way we offer hope and help when they are in a time of crisis, this is a way to do the same with opportunities to advance in their careers.”

Langone expects that many grant applicants will be former crisis relief assistance recipients. “It’s someone who needed a little bit of help to stabilize their family and is now ready to do something on the education front to increase their earnings potential,” she says. “They need a short-term course, like a professional certification program, to move to the next level and make them more financially resilient. Such added skills will also help them better hang on to their current jobs.”

Two Ten is working through its WIFI (Women in the Footwear Industry) community group to facilitate the grants. The effort kicked off by surveying members about what types of courses might be helpful to this audience. (A list of recommended courses is available on Two Ten’s website, but applicants can also ask for funding for a course that is not listed.) WIFI members are also encouraged to volunteer as career coaches, as the application process involves matching a

candidate with a mentor to see how a course could help career advancement, followed by a conversation, after completing the training, on how to best put their new skills to good use. The coaching commitment is virtual, self-paced and a minimum of three hours, including some orientation and training. “WIFI chapters are already stepping up, wanting to sponsor grants for people in their chapters,” Langone says. “They’re planning online campaigns and fundraising events, like trivia nights and golf outings, to raise funds.” Two Ten offers planning toolkits to help organize such efforts. Going forward, Langone says the Opportunity Grants program will be offered through partnerships with other affinity groups in the industry. “We chose WIFI first because it’s a community that we’ve championed and have extensive contacts to get people to volunteer,” she says. “Once we get this going, we’ll move on to other groups.” The idea of the grant is already generating enthusiasm with employee resource groups and executives at several leading companies. Foot Locker and Famous Footwear, a division of Caleres, are among retailers that are getting behind the program early on. Employees from DeAnna Langone, manager, both companies are helping Opportunity Grants program Two Ten refine the course offerings and protocols for the volunteers who will coach and mentor grant recipients. Beyond the expected strong interest, Langone says the grant program’s launch comes as crisis relief requests (fingers crossed) are expected to return to pre-pandemic levels. It’s a welcome change after two years of the record requests for assistance. “We’ve been in crisis relief mode for the past two years, where nearly all of our financial assistance has addressed critical needs for those experiencing hardship due to job loss, a health crisis or a household emergency, as well as loss or damage due to natural disasters,” she says. “Our Opportunity Grants program represents the ‘opportunity’ side of our portfolio. Hopefully we can focus more on addressing those needs, too.”

Manitobah Flagship Celebrates its Indigenous Roots

MANITOBAH, MAKERS OF mukluk boots and moccasins, opened its first-ever flagship in its hometown of Winnipeg, Canada. The store’s downtown location, in the Forks Market, is where the Red and Assiniboine rivers converge and Indigenous communities, including the Métis and Inuit, have been trading for thousands of years—long before French and British settlers arrived.

“When we decided to launch our first flagship, we knew it had to be in the historic Forks Market,” says Greg Tunney, president and CEO of Manitobah, noting that the store is a celebration of the region’s Indigenous communities. “It’s an amazing consumer experiential store that mixes culture, art, history, music and, of course, our product.”

Examples include smudging ceremonies, a cleansing ritual that burns sacred medicines like grass, sage and cedar. Customers will also be able to watch performances by >25