Global footwear and accessories retailer Aldo has joined forces with international advocacy organisation, Global Citizen, to support equal access to education. The ‘Give Back, Move Forward’ campaign is geared towards supporting the movement to help 264 million children gain access to education worldwide. As part of the campaign, 20% of the net proceeds from the sale of Aldo’s genderless sneaker, Aldo Mx., will help children in the world’s poorest countries get the education they deserve.
The sneaker first launched in August 2017 with a message of equality and unity. In this newly-launched collaboration with Global Citizen, the brand aims to grow the impact of Mx. with a more tangible contribution to society. “It was crucial for us to find an organisation that would not only reflect our founder’s vision and philosophy in the most genuine way, but also inspire and mobilize our customer,” asserts Daianara Grullon Amalfitano, senior vice president at Aldo.
“After successfully launching our genderless sneaker last summer, we sought to further celebrate the intention and values behind its creation. By extending the purpose of Mx. towards this new campaign, our goal is to elevate what the sneaker stands for and raise awareness for a project that will resonate with our global community, the ‘#AldoCrew’.”
Falling under the umbrella of Global Citizen’s ‘Education For All’ initiative, the ‘Give Back, Move Forward’ campaign aims to fill critical funding gaps in global education, including supporting the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) to achieve its 2018 replenishment goal of $3.1 billion. Helping to fill their funding gap will positively impact hundreds of million children and youth across 89 countries.
Through its partnership with Aldo, Global Citizen will also continue to call on world leaders, businesses and multilateral institutions to support the GPE ‘Education Cannot Wait’ fund. This will ensure that 75 million children and youth in danger of, or already missing out on their education, can have the resources they need to access this basic human right.
The sneaker will be released in three exclusive colours – deep red, black on black and grey mix – and will be available in Aldo South Africa stores from 15 December.
