Benefits and Learning Outcomes

The NRF Foundation provides the skills and resources people need to build great careers and continues to invest in the future of the retail workforce.

The NRF Foundation Emerging Leaders Summit brings together 100 early retail professionals, retail leaders and subject-matter experts to provide exclusive insights and engaging professional development that will help early careerists become stronger future leaders.

The event seeks to provide early professionals with support, access, and opportunities to further themselves as leaders, and to support the retailer community with investing in early talent that will contribute to a stronger, more diverse workforce.

Benefits for Early Careerists

• Build knowledge of the wider world of retail, hearing directly from NRF experts and retail leaders from various companies on what they need to know about the industry.
• Cultivate an industry-wide network of mid-to-senior level peers who are eager to invest in the next generation of leaders.
• Develop effective workforce navigation skills and techniques to be engaged, authentic and successful team members.

Eligibility

Criteria to attend the Emerging Leaders Summit include:

• Full-time employment at a retail company
• Entry-level up to manager roles in any function within the organization
• Approximately two to five years of full-time retail experience
• A demonstrated potential and desire to grow in a career
• A commitment to the advancement of people of color to help cultivate a dynamic retail industry where everyone belongs

Attendees of the 2023 NRF Foundation Emerging Leaders Summit had an average of 3.9 years of work experience and represented 15 different functions within their organizations including merchandising, marketing, communications, supply chain, store management, finance and more. An attendee group with cross-functional backgrounds maximizes learning and networking across the broad spectrum of retail roles.

Attendees can represent either corporate, stores, or warehouse functions. They should be ambitious early retail careerists with strong leadership potential and a clear interest in development opportunities to advance their careers and networks. Attendees should come ready to engage, learn, ask questions, and take learnings back to implement and share with their teams.