VF Corp. was honored with the Corporate Statesmanship Award from the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress (FMC), a bipartisan, voluntary nonprofit alliance of former U.S. Senators and Representatives. VF received the award on March 21 at FMC’s annual Statesmanship Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C.

“We are honored to be recognized by the FMC for our work to improve the lives of apparel and footwear industry workers and their communities around the world,” said Steve Rendle, VF’s chairman, president and CEO. “As one of the largest and leading companies in our sector, we recognize our unique opportunity to leverage our scale to affect positive changes that have a lasting impact and set a high standard for human rights and environmental responsibility. I am proud of the work our associates have accomplished, but we also know this important work is never done. We are and will forever remain committed to partnering with others to continue to advance ongoing progress.”

The Corporate Statesmanship Award recognizes outstanding corporate leadership and citizenship, including companies that exemplify service and commitment to improving the lives of others. VF received this recognition for its creation of the company’s Responsible Sourcing program, a global collaborative approach to sourcing products responsibly, including collaborating with industry partners and multi-stakeholder organizations across 50 countries to maintain safe, healthy environments for workers, manufacturing products responsibly and improving workers’ lives.

An integral component to VF’s Global Supply Chain organization, the Responsible Sourcing program ensures VF’s more than 1,000 contract suppliers and sourcing partners are operating with the same high standards VF sets for its owned and operated manufacturing operations. VF shares with its supply chain partners the company’s manufacturing best practices and know-how, and often serves as a consultant to help them continually improve their operations and environmental and socially responsible initiatives.

VF’s Responsible Sourcing program comprises four focus areas:

  • Worker Rights and Safety: Maintaining safety and healthy environments for all workers;
  • Product Stewardship: Manufacturing and sourcing products and raw materials responsibly and ethically;
  • Environmental Sustainability: Reducing the environmental impact of our business and
  • Worker and Community Development: Improving the standards of living for all workers who make our products.

“We are thrilled to recognize VF Corporation with our 2018 award. Steve and his team stand for the exact corporate global citizenship that we seek to highlight. They have demonstrated admirably how a group of leaders, united behind a commitment to combine product excellence with good stewardship, can set the industry-wide standard when it comes to environmental and labor values. FMC seeks to promote finding common ground and working together toward the common good, and we cannot think of a better private sector example of this than VF Corporation’s Responsible Sourcing Program,” said former member of Congress Cliff Stearns, FMC’s president.

With more than 600 former members of Congress, FMC utilizes the expertise and experience of its bipartisan membership for domestic and international programs, all performed by former Senators and Representatives on a pro bono basis. FMC’s main domestic project, the Congress to Campus Program, teaches about representative democracy and encourages the next generation of public servants. International projects include four Congressional Study Groups that connect current members of Congress with their peers in the legislative branches of Germany, Japan, Korea and the European Union.

VF’s brands include Vans, The North Face, Timberland, Wrangler and Lee.