Policymakers in Washington State want to offer more opportunities for students to learn about careers. Washington Retail Association (WR) works to connect these policymakers to NRF Foundation RISE Up courses, which they believe work well for retail career education. Rose Gunderson, the Vice President of Operations and Retail Services at the WR, sat down with us to talk about why the RISE Up courses are so valuable to the communities in Washington.
“I focus on finding opportunities to share RISE Up with educators,” explains Gundersen. WR is able to talk to many organizations and educational facilities across the state and tell them how RISE Up affects students and their learning. “We recently had a booth at a conference promoting RISE Up at the Association of Washington School Principals for example,” Gundersen states.
WR launched the Retail Workforce Initiative in 2020. Through this program, they aim to promote retail education and make such education available to everyone. WR is committed to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, or JEDI. Gundersen states that “over 30% of frontline retail workers are people of color.” Through the Retail Workforce Initiative and with RISE Up courses, WR is able to ensure that retail education is available to as many folks as possible. “It’s a perfect match for the Retail Workforce Initiative,” Gundersen says.
When asked why WR chooses to support RISE Up, Gundersen had nothing but great things to say about the credentials. “It aligns with the policymakers’ goal to offer valuable credentials, and the fact that it’s developed by retailers, it offers real world experience and actions,” she explains. “In this day and age, young people are so tied to the virtual world, they can have a hard time interacting with people. But, RISE Up really gives them that skill set and specific training to know how to go to an interview, how to write a resume, how to interact with supervisors and customers, how to think about retail, how to upsell, and more … they're the skills that they need to complement the tech world that we’re in.”
In addition to the instructors and education providers’ opinions about RISE Up, students of all kinds particularly enjoy the courses. Gundersen says, “I met a teacher at a conference who told m that it was wonderful for their students. Students who are usually not that engaged actually loved it.” Not only can students expand their resumes and career skills, but they can enjoy the process as well with RISE Up.
“We hope that by continuing to work on RISE Up, it will further the kind of services we can provide,” Gunderson says. “It is truly the ideal credential for students and entry level workers.”
RISE Up is the NRF Foundation training and credentialing program that provides foundational employability skills to help people land jobs and get promoted in retail and beyond.
Our curriculum and exams are industry-recognized and were developed in collaboration with more than 20 retailers, including Walmart, Macy’s, The Home Depot, Burlington Stores, BJs Wholesale Club and Nordstrom. And we’re proud to partner with more than 3,000 training partners across the country.
Tell us how your school or program is using RISE Up for the chance to be selected as the 2026 RISE UP Partner of the Year.
RISE Up is the NRF Foundation training and credentialing program that provides foundational employability skills to help people land jobs and get promoted in retail and beyond.
Our curriculum and exams are industry-recognized and were developed in collaboration with more than 20 retailers, including Walmart, Macy’s, The Home Depot, Burlington Stores, BJs Wholesale Club and Nordstrom. And we’re proud to partner with more than 3,000 training partners across the country.
