As part of its People’s Place Program, Tommy Hilfiger is partnering with the Compton Cowboys, a group of horseback riders using equestrian culture to positively influence inner-city youth and combat negative racial stereotypes in Los Angeles.
The group created a free course dedicated to “creating the best versions of ourselves” available now on the digital learning platform FutureLearn.
Tommy Hilfiger’s People’s Place Program is a plan to help increase opportunities for underrepresented communities within the global fashion industry. The program’s first partnerships include the Fashion and Race Database (FRD), an online platform committed to challenging misrepresentation within the fashion system, and Harlem Fashion Row (HFR), a New York-based agency focused on the advancement of people of color in the fashion industry.
In February, the PVH Corp.-owned added a learning component to the program, centered around online courses hosted by activists for sustainability, LGBTQIA+ allyship, body confidence and community building.
This Tommy Hilfiger FutureLearn course is designed to “give anyone who wants to drive positive change in their community an understanding and blueprint of what mentorship and community change can be,” the company stated. Hosted by Randy Savvy from the Compton Cowboys, the course explores the power of mentorship through the lens of the personal stories and journeys of the Compton Cowboys, exploring the history of African American cowboys.
The two-week course is designed to be completed at users’ own pace. In week one, the course explores the personal experiences that led the Compton Cowboys to take on mentorships, as well as the group’s dream to reinforce the Black Lives Matter movement.
In week two, the course shifts to ways users can nurture their own passion for advocacy, and turn ideas into positive action. The course concludes with a short quiz to test users on what they learned.
FutureLearn hosts thousands of courses taught by world-class universities and organizations including King’s College London and Johns Hopkins University. Through the platform, users can remotely develop hobbies, new skills and career-related expertise. Tommy Hilfiger states that the community mentorship course was researched, developed and shaped by a team of accredited subject matter experts to ensure it meets the highest educational standards.
The People’s Place Program is part of Tommy Hilfiger’s mission to build a more inclusive and sustainable company. Last summer, the brand pledged to make fully circular products, operate more responsibly, be more inclusive, and create equal opportunities for all at Tommy Hilfiger by 2030.