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The mission of Dress for Success is to promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.

Founded in New York City in 1997, Dress for Success is an international not-for-profit organization offering services designed to help their clients find jobs and remain employed. Each Dress for Success client receives one suit when she has a job interview and can return for a second suit when she finds work, thus providing her with the foundation for a professional wardrobe.

Since 1997, Dress for Success has served almost 300,000 women around the world. Their clients come from a diverse group of non-profit and government agencies including homeless shelters, job training programs and domestic violence shelters. More than 2,500 organizations throughout the world send women to Dress for Success for professional apparel and career development services.

While Dress for Success may be best known for providing suits to women, it is their employment retention programs that are the cornerstone of the organization. Soon after Dress for Success was founded, they came to recognize that finding a job is only one step in a woman’s journey towards economic independence; remaining employed and building a rewarding career are equally important.

To meet the need for services that would help women both find and keep jobs, they established the Professional Women's Group (PWG) program, which provides ongoing support to enable women to successfully transition into the workforce, build thriving careers and prosper in the workplace. Once a woman joins PWG she is a member for life, able to attend meetings at any affiliate and can benefit from additional employment retention and mentoring programs.

Dress for Success also has developed Career Center, an initiative that promotes confidence and professionalism by offering career guidance, the chance to acquire technology skills and assistance in job searches.

Another way in which Dress for Success supports women is through Steps to Success, an initiative that focuses on the crucial first 30 days of employment, during which newly-hired women face potential challenges. A Guide to Success in the Workplace publication helps women prepare for their new jobs, identifies barriers they might encounter, encourages them to plan for their futures and highlights resources that can assist them during this transition.

Support Dress for Success | Volunteer
Dress for Success is a volunteer-driven organization that depends on the support of the community to deliver their services to disadvantaged women. Join the more than 3,000 volunteers and help women on the road to self-sufficiency. Below are some examples of ways that volunteers can assist Dress for Success at the local level.

Personal Shopper
Volunteers can work one-on-one with a Dress for Success client to help her select her professional attire and provide support as she prepares for her interviews.

Career Center Specialist
Working with the Career Center program gives volunteers the opportunity to support clients in their job searches; review résumés; help write cover letters; and offer interview tips. Assisting a woman as she continues her professional growth is a fulfilling and valuable experience.

Professional Women's Group Expert Speaker
Speakers are needed for Professional Women’s Group seminars to discuss career development topics such as workplace communications, time management, taxes and balancing work and home responsibilities.

Mentor a Professional Women's Group Member
As part of their employment retention services, Dress for Success offers a mentoring program for members of the Professional Women’s Group, who are matched with professional businesswomen with at least five years of work experience.

Special Events & Fundraising
Special events are a vital part of Dress for Success’ fundraising efforts, and volunteers are needed to assist in a variety of ways. Whether sitting on an event committee, helping with logistics or stuffing invitations; volunteers play an important role in these events.

Short-Term Consulting Projects
Dress for Success is seeking professionals able to do pro bono work in the fields of grant writing, marketing, PR and technology. If you have a special skill that you think could benefit Dress for Success, please find the affiliate in your community to learn how you can help.

Public Speaking
Volunteers have the opportunity to represent Dress for Success at a number of events including speaking engagements at corporations and referral agencies.

Administrative Work
Dress for Success is often in need of administrative help such as answering phones, updating databases and other office tasks.

Shop Maintenance
Organizing the apparel that Dress for Success receives and stores is an enormous and ongoing task. They always need volunteers who can help sort donations, change inventory in the shop and organize the clothing racks.