Target Corporation is a company and retail chain with nearly 2,000 stores and around 400,000 employees in the United States. ^{1 2}

As of February 2025, the Target Corporation was listed as the second-largest discount-store retailer in the United States behind Walmart. The company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and is a component of the S&P 500 Index. ^{3 4}

As of 2023, Target was providing annual donations to the left-of-center advocacy group Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN). At the time, GLEN was listed as an official Target Pride Month partner. ⁵

Background

As of 2025, Target has nearly 2,000 stores in the United States with around 400,000 employees. It had two corporate campuses in Minneapolis and Brooklyn Park (“Twin Cities”), Minnesota. It ran 62 supply chain facilities in 25 states operated by 60,000 employees. ¹

Target opened its first store in Roseville, Minnesota on May 1, 1962. ¹

Advocacy

In 2015, Diversity Inc. ranked Target 25 on its list of the Top 50 Companies for Diversity. ⁶

In 2020, Target announced it would partner with voter advocacy groups Time to Vote and Civic Alliance as well as the creation of Vote411.org/Target, a joint voting resource project with Women Voters Education Fund that it claims would help register and educate voters. ⁷

In June 2023, Target began selling a series of LGBT-focused merchandise in its stores. One of the designers, Erik Carnell, was later discovered to have several clothing items on his website containing controversial images, which led to a decrease in sales due to backlash. ^{8 9} The company claimed it would refuse to take down the merchandise due to threats against “team members,” but later announced it would take down several items including Carnell’s items. ^{10 8}

In May 2024, Target announced it would halt selling certain LGBT-focused merchandise while affirming its commitment to the “LGBTQIA+ community.”  ¹¹

In early 2025, the company was sued by a group of shareholders within the state of Florida claiming it had misled investors about the negative impact of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives on stock prices. ¹²

Grantmaking

As of 2023, Target was providing annual donations to LGBTQ-focused education advocacy group the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN). GLEN was an official Target Pride Month partner. ⁵

In the 2023 calendar year, Target’s corporate contributions included $50,000 to the Democratic Governors Association and $50,000 to the Republican Governors Association, $15,000 to Women in Power PAC, $10,000 to California African American PAC, and $10,000 to LGBT Caucus Leadership Fund. Target is also a member of several national memberships organizations to which it donates funds. In 2023, these included the US Conference of Mayors ($350,000), Congressional Black Caucus Foundation ($200,000), African American Mayors Association ($100,000), the Attorney General Alliance ($50,000), the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute ($50,000), Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute ($50,000), California Latino Legislative Caucus Foundation ($15,000), National Black Caucus of State Legislators ($15,000), and National Conference of State Legislatures ($15,000). ¹³

Leadership

As of 2025, the chair and CEO of Target was Brian Cornell, who joined the company in 2014. ¹⁴

In 2023, Carlos Saavedra was the vice president of brand marketing for the Target Corporation. Saavedra was also the treasurer and a member of the board of directors for the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN). ⁵

1. “Our Locations.” Target. Accessed February 15, 2025. https://corporate.target.com/about/locations.
2. “About.” Target. Accessed February 15, 2025. https://corporate.target.com/about.
3. “Target Corporation.” MorningStar. Accessed February 15, 2025. https://dbrs.morningstar.com/issuers/3686/target-corporation.
4. “Target Corp TGT.” NYSE. Accessed February 15, 2024. https://www.nyse.com/quote/XNYS:TGT.
5. Grossman, Hannah. “Target marketing VP holds senior position at org pushing secretive transgender policies in K-12 schools.” Fox News, May 29, 2023. Accessed February 15, 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/20230529195641/https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/target-marketing-vp-holds-senior-position-at-org-pushing-secretive-transgender-policies-in-k-12-schools/ar-AA1bPD1Z.
6. EPR Staff. “Public Relations Wars: Wal-Mart Versus Target.” Everything PR News, December 15, 2015. Accessed February 15, 2025. https://everything-pr.com/public-relations-walmart-target-strategy/.
7. “Your Vote, Your Voice: Here’s What You Need to Know to Vote in 2020.” Target. July 16, 2020. Accessed February 15, 2025. https://corporate.target.com/news-features/article/2020/07/voting.
8. Kingsberry, Janay. “Trans designer dumped by Target explains how he got smeared as Satanist.” The Washington Post, May 26, 2023. Accessed February 15, 2025. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/05/26/lgbtq-designer-target-pride-collection-controversy/.
9. Kaye, Danielle. “Target says backlash against LGBTQ+ Pride merchandise hurt sales.” NPR, August 16, 2023. Accessed February 15, 2025. https://www.npr.org/2023/08/16/1194176045/target-sales-lgbtq-pride-bud-light.
10. “Target Statement on 2023 Pride Collection.” Target, May 24, 2023. Accessed February 15, 2025. https://corporate.target.com/press/statement/2023/05/target-statement-on-2023-pride-collection.
11. D’Innocenzio, Anne. “Target to reduce number of stores carrying Pride-themed merchandise after last year’s backlash.” Associated Press (AP), May 11, 2024. Accessed February 15, 2025. https://apnews.com/article/target-lgbtq-pride-667ab2f6545645f5f86ca76394e531d6.
12.  Sental, Quinn. “Target hit with shareholder lawsuit over DEI policies.” Salon, February 5, 2025. Accessed February 15, 2025. https://www.salon.com/2025/02/05/target-hit-with-shareholder-over-dei-policies/?in_brief=true.
13. “2023 Target Corporate Political Contributions.” Target. Accessed February 15, 2025. https://corporate.target.com/sustainability-governance/operating-ethically/public-policy-civic-engagement/political-engagement/contributions-2023.
14. “Brian Cornell.” Target. Accessed February 15, 2025. https://corporate.target.com/about/purpose-history/leadership/brian-cornell.