RON Experience
The Retail Opportunity Network is a great place for knowledge sharing and community building. RON both challenges and elevates my thinking around retail opportunity. It’s wonderful to connect with others outside of my organization on issues I care about. I enjoy helping other RON members identify tools and best practices from JFF and elsewhere that they might not be familiar with to deepen their own efforts wherever they’re at, and learn from others as well. The RON in-person and online meetings allow me to see and hear first-hand how people are helping build meaningful pathways in retail and other sectors.
The RON has been an invaluable resource for accelerating our RetailWorks AZ initiative goals by shortening our learning curve and applying lessons learned from other members. We have leveraged research, tools, employer engagement strategies and innovative ideas from across the network. Our motto has been to not invent what’s already been invented and benefit from the innovation and leadership from others across the country. RON events have enabled us to build relationships and shape our work, especially around technology-enabled learning and gender/racial equity.
The Retail Opportunity Network has afforded both me and our Reimagine Retail Chicagoland partners with resources and insights. The RON has enabled us to deepen our employer relationships and build a practice of coaching businesses on strategies to improve stability and advancement.
