From Kerry Barr O'Connor, Executive Director
Our hearts are full this season as we celebrate each woman who crosses our threshold and invites us to be a part of her journey towards economic upward mobility. We do this with the unwavering support of many generous and compassionate individuals, corporations, and foundations who invest in our mission and support the organization during the toughest of times.
One of our stalwart, mission partners is Bank of America, a company that has supported the organization in every area of the organization. This year, Bank of America named Dress for Success Charlotte as a 2021 Neighborhood Builders® awardee in recognition of the organization’s work in advancing economic mobility in the Greater Charlotte Community. As a Neighborhood Builders awardee, Dress for Success Charlotte will receive $200,000 in flexible funding, a year of leadership training, a network of peer organizations across the U.S., and the opportunity to access capital to expand impact. With women, and especially women of color, disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, the timing of this award could not be more meaningful.
So, what does this really mean for Dress for Success Charlotte? It means we will expand our services to serve more women in need of job preparedness, job acquisition, employment retention, and career advancement. We will build on the virtual programming developed and necessitated by the pandemic and continue to make it available and accessible to those unable to visit our Boutique and Career Transformation Center in person due to myriad issues, including child care, transportation, distance, and non-traditional work schedules. It will provide additional staff to expand community partnerships and bring even more resources to low- and moderate-income women. And it will create more upskilling opportunities to help women move up and out of poverty and onto a path of self-sufficiency.
We thank Bank of America for naming Dress for Success Charlotte as a 2021 Neighbor Builder and for its decades long support of our mission to help women secure employment as a means to achieve upward economic mobility and strengthen their families. Your commitment to our vulnerable neighbors in Charlotte and throughout the country is commendable and we are honored to be working in partnership with you.
And from our table to yours, we wish you peace and abundant blessings this Thanksgiving Holiday season and we thank you for being a very special part of our Dress for Success Charlotte family.
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Aparna's Story
Aparna was one of our featured guests at this year's Ultimate Power Lunch. Her story is like so many other small business/entrepreneurs during the pandemic. Hear how Dress for Success Charlotte helped her when she had to make drastic changes.
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Did You Know?
According to the American Immigration Council: Eight percent of North Carolina residents are immigrants, while 7 percent of residents are native-born U.S. citizens with at least one immigrant parent. The top countries of origin for immigrants were Mexico (28 percent of immigrants), India (9 percent), Honduras (4 percent), China (3 percent), and El Salvador (3 percent).
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Financial Empowerment for Women
Monday, December 6, 6:30 p.m. Orientation Session
This popular 10 - week interactive and intensive financial empowerment series teaches you how to get started on the path to financial freedom. Take control of your income and financial future! More information and registration.
More Professional Development Opportunities
December 1 - Career Center Virtual Open House
December 8 - Partners from Verizon will present a session on maximizing LinkedIn in your job search.
By Appointment - Career Coaching
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Partner Shoutout!
Thanks to our partners at the Adecco Group for October's special coaching session with group and one-on-one coaching.
If your company is interested in hosting a career coaching or professional development event, contact Fontella McKyer, Director of Workforce Development or leave a message at 704-525-7706.
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Farewell to a Very
Special Friend
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We are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Dr. Ophelia Garmon-Brown. She held many roles in the Charlotte community including being the first female African-American Family Medicine resident. Earlier this year, Dr. Garmon-Brown was our featured speaker at a workshop during National Women's Health Week, discussing the need for women and girls, and especially during COVID, to make their health a priority and take care of themselves.
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Professional Women's Group (PWG)
The last PWG meeting of 2021 will be via Zoom on December 9, at 6:30 pm. The topic will be: "2022 Goals: Virtual Vision Board Experience".
To learn more about this professional employment retention and career advancement group, contact Fontella McKyer, Director of Workforce Development at fmckyer@dressforsuccesscharlotte.org or leave her a message at 704-525-7706.
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Heather, Gregory, Madonna, Natosha, Eilean, Nicole, Zenebria, Andrea
Congratulations on your new positions! We invite you to continue your employment ascension with free membership in our employment retention program, the aforementioned Professional Women's Group (PWG).
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After 20 long months our ever-popular Inventory Reduction Event returned earlier this month. It was wonderful so many clients and friends again. However, this event could not happen without our volunteers! We would like to thank all our loyal volunteers and especially these corporate and civic groups:
Capco
EY
Keller Williams
Ulta
US Bank
Women of Purpose
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We greatly appreciate your patience as our volunteer ranks and capacity are building back up. We are working to confirm 2 donation days in December. Please check our website for updates.
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Swaggerer of the Month
Mr. November
Ryan McGee
Senior Writer,
ESPN
“From my wife and daughter to my mother and grandmothers to the legions of incredible women I work with at ESPN and in press boxes around the nation, every single day of life if a witness to the power of women. I love the mission of this organization so much because it works hard to underline and underwrite the importance of opening doors for women and strengthening the families those women lead.”
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Program Support
If you would like to make a financial gift, we offer several convenient options. You can DONATE HERE through our website, or we gladly accept donations by check, or by credit card over the phone. Call our office at 704-525-7706. If your company does matching gifts, please remember to apply and double or triple your gift.
To direct gifts of stock, please provide your broker with
Merrill Edge DTC #5198. The account is Dress for Success Charlotte.
Need more information? Call Kerry Barr O'Connor at
704-525-7706. Your donation is tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
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One of the many ways you can support Dress for Success Charlotte is to donate items on our Wish List. For each item or service donated, we are able to put our financial resources to great use!
Current Needs
iPad - Help us upgrade our technology so we can be more efficient when processing donor gifts.
General Maintenance: We could use a few hours of handyman/handywoman services to help with a few tasks. We have the tools if you have the time.
Please call if you can help - 704-525-7706.
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The mission of Dress for Success® is to empower women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and the development tools to help women thrive in work and in life |
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Dress for Success Charlotte | 704-525-7706 |500-A Clanton Rd, Charlotte, NC 28217 | Website
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