We recently sat down with Janaial Robinson, Director of Operations and Chief of Programs at Dress for Success Boston, one of SwagCycle’s charitable partners. Watch the video interview below and read on to learn more about their important work and impact.
This post is part of a series of profiles highlighting charitable organizations that SwagCycle partners with to make sure that the branded merchandise that we help keep out of landfills ultimately ends up in the hands of individuals who can put it to good use. Follow along with us to learn more about our dedicated partners and the causes they serve.
Dress for Success Boston is an affiliate of the worldwide Dress for Success organization, working to help women gain self-sufficiency in their lives by providing them with professional interview and workplace attire, helping them secure and maintain employment, and supporting them as they build their careers. SwagCycle recently helped facilitate a donation of new notebooks to Dress for Success Boston, which are being provided to women who participate in the organization’s programs.
Dress for Success Boston’s Impact
Since the Dress for Success Boston affiliate was started in 2001, the organization has served over 14,000 women who they get connected with through their more than 500+ partner organizations (non-profits, schools, employment centers, and shelters). One of Dress for Success Boston’s flagship programs is their suiting program through which they dress women for job interviews from head to toe, providing each client with an outfit, handbag, and shoes at their boutique. After the client secures a job, Dress for Success Boston invites them for additional appointments where they get several outfits to wear to work.
“Our main goal is not about the clothing, believe it or not, it’s actually about providing confidence to our women and how they feel in the clothing,” said Robinson. “That is one of our main objectives, but there are so many things that we do to get women to that self-sufficiency that they need to take care of their families.”
Dress for Success Boston also offers a number of other programs. The organization has 40-60 volunteers who work one-on-one with clients, and the volunteers can relate to and help empower clients because they’ve often been through similar experiences in their own lives, Robinson said. Another of their programs is a professional women’s group, which before the pandemic had monthly meetings where speakers would give presentations on a variety of topics to help support the women in their careers and lives. Sessions cover a range of topics including self defense and personal finance. An alumni group also meets regularly to stay connected with the organization and one another, hear from speakers, and have discussions around topics like switching careers and retirement.
Pivoting to Offer Remote Services During the Pandemic
With the COVID-19 pandemic preventing Dress for Success Boston from seeing clients in-person, the organization has pivoted from seeing clients at their boutique to a virtual suiting program so that they can continue to serve their clients remotely. They have also expanded their offerings to provide programming to young adults and have developed a new program called Confidence Day, which provides interactive, activity-based virtual sessions to youth to help them build confidence.
As it continues to expand its programming and adapt to new circumstances, Dress for Success Boston has some ambitious goals for the future, including plans for a possible new office. “The future is reaching out to more youth and serving more women,” said Robinson. “Our space is actually pretty small, so when we think about serving more women, we think about whether we have the space to do that, so that’s always something on our [list of] future endeavors.”
We look forward to continuing to collaborate with Dress for Success Boston as they advance their mission of empowering women to obtain safer and better futures. You can learn more about Dress for Success Boston and how to support their work on their website at boston.dressforsuccess.org.
Have obsolete branded merchandise you’d like to keep from becoming waste and have matched with a charitable organization like Dress for Success Boston? We can help! Learn more about how SwagCycle can help your company or organization repurpose, recycle, and donate your merchandise.