Supporters Guide

The Emerging Retail Leaders training is an invitation-only event filled with networking, learning and skill building that 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.

Emerging Retail Leaders provides early retail professionals with:

• Knowledge of the wider world of retail directly from industry experts

• A network of retail industry peers

• Workforce navigation skills to be engaged, authentic, and successful

Sending attendees is an impactful way to invest in your current talent, offering them high‑quality professional development that strengthens leadership readiness and broadens their understanding of the retail industry. By providing intentional upskilling and exposure to cross-functional insights, the Emerging Retail Leaders training helps prepare employees for future promotions, equips them with the tools to thrive as emerging managers, and sets them up for long-term success within your organization.

Criteria to attend include:

• Full-time employment at a retail company.

• Entry-level up to manager roles in any function within the organization.

• A demonstrated potential and desire to grow in a retail career.

• Committed to strengthening and promoting your company values and culture.

Recommended processes to select attendees include:

• Source nominations from senior leaders or HR Business partners

• Provide eligibility criteria — both those defined by the NRF Foundation for the program, and any additional criteria you would like to add. Some examples of additional criteria are below:

  • High Potential — specific 9 box criteria

  • Individuals who are 2—5 years into their retail career

  • Individuals who have recently been promoted to management roles for the first time

  • Individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to strategic impact that has supported inclusion and belonging within your org. For example, those who are participating in employee resource groups or similar efforts.

  • Individuals who were offered full-time roles as a result of your internship program 2—3 years ago

  • Individuals local to the DC area — consider store or remote employees if your brand doesn't have a DC area office

• Select an array of individuals from different parts of the business

• Application process for eligible individuals interested in attending

Attendees from the 2025 event had an average of 2.5 years of experience at their current company and represented 20 different functions within their organizations such as 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 corporate, stores, or supply chain facility functions. They should be ambitious, early in their retail careers, 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.

Preparing your attendees before Emerging Retail Leaders sets the foundation for a meaningful and impactful experience. By encouraging them to review pre‑work, research speakers, and understand the purpose of the event, you can help attendees arrive confident, engaged, and ready to participate fully in the interactive sessions and networking opportunities. Taking these steps in advance ensures attendees make the most of the program and return to your organization with stronger skills, clearer insights, and actionable takeaways.

Communicate the purpose

Explain that they have been selected to participate in a high-impact professional development opportunity designed to accelerate leadership readiness, broaden retail knowledge, and expand their networks. Share the pdf invite provided by the NRF Foundation. Use the example copy below when inviting your attendees.

Reinforce why they were chosen

Companies should clearly articulate to attendees the leadership qualities they’ve demonstrated, the skills the company wants them to gain by attending, and how attending fits into their long-term growth plan.

Have a leader attend with them

It’s recommended that companies send a mid-to-senior leader to accompany their attendees. A leader’s presence can make participants feel more at ease, facilitate introductions among attendees within the organization, and provide support for any travel or internal inquiries. Additionally, leaders can observe Emerging Retail Leaders firsthand and help internal follow-through on key learnings.

Share travel and expense protocols

Companies should provide clear instructions for booking travel and expense policies such as per diems, submitting expense reports, reimbursement timelines, etc. For many attendees, this is their first experience with business travel at your organization. It's valuable to approach this as an opportunity for professional growth, enabling attendees to gain experience in corporate travel.

Promote attendee preparation prior to the event

The NRF Foundation will send pre-work materials and recommend that attendees research speakers in advance. Companies are encouraged to emphasize the importance of prep work to their participants. In previous years, some companies have hosted prep calls with their attendees ahead to review all of the event's details.

Email copy when inviting attendees

Here is some sample language you can use when inviting your colleagues to the Summit.

Showing up fully and professionally onsite is essential to ensuring attendees get the most out of the Emerging Retail Leaders. Being intentional about how attendees show up onsite maximizes their learning, strengthens their network, and elevates the overall impact of the experience.

a. Attendees are encouraged to be present and fully engaged. Sessions are designed for active participation and real‑time engagement with industry leaders so arriving ready to contribute allows attendees to build meaningful connections, ask thoughtful questions, and represent their company with confidence.

b. Leaders in attendance are encouraged to help facilitate introductions between your attendees and help foster their company’s culture. In previous years, leaders took attendees to dinner, attended the networking reception, coordinated check-ins onsite, and facilitated group photos.

The NRF Foundation will host two virtual meetings for all Emerging Retail Leaders attendees in the weeks following the event. Attending these sessions offers participants a chance to reconnect and continue their professional development.

All NRF Foundation Emerging Retail Leaders attendees will receive a complimentary pass to NRF 2027: Retail’s Big Show on January 10-12, 2027. The NRF Foundation will provide justification letters for attendees to help make the business case on why they should attend.

The NRF Foundation also encourages all attendees to sign up for NRF resources such as NRF Retail Newsletters, NRF Center for Retail & Consumer Insights, NRF State of Retail and the Consumer, NRF Retail Gets Real Podcast and more.

Alongside NRF events and resources, companies are encouraged to incorporate the experiences gained by attendees at Emerging Retail Leaders into their company culture and establish actionable follow-up items for participants.

Example follow-up items for participants

• Internal debriefs with attendees and their managers

• Attendees to present learnings, key takeaways, impact and experience to leadership, their teams or HR business partners

• Form internal cohort or ERG for attendees to meet on a scheduled basis

• Capture learnings in a brief written report

• Share highlights in internal comms (newsletter or memo) or external comms (LinkedIn post) to recognize participants and support for their career development

• Encourage attendees to post on LinkedIn to reflect on their experience

Samples

Click or tap an image to see larger.