​“Dress for Success Western Massachusetts helped me realize my self-worth. I will not allow anyone else to diminish that.”

This quote is from Kate, who attributes their recent self-growth to the support and encouragement they received from Dress for Success. They came to us as a part of the 12th cohort of Foot in the Door, a unique workforce readiness program that helps women and gender non-binary people to build the skills to advance their professional growth and achieve financial independence.

Foot in the Door is an important part of our continuum of support, which also includes suiting for interview attire, the Margaret Fitzgerald Mentorship Program, Tech Goes Home digital literacy training, and our Professional Women’s Group.

Since graduating from the cohort, Kate has worked with a mentor for over a year, joined the Professional Women’s Group and has become an integral part of our organizational community. They became a digital literacy coach, participant advisor for programming and is now the voice behind our social media. “I love working with this program and paying it forward. If I can help even one person get where I am now, I would be ecstatic.”

Thanks to our community of supporters like you, the impact of these programs has grown tremendously over the past several years. Hundreds of women who began with a suiting or in Foot in the Door are now employed and pursuing their goals. And some have also joined the Dress for Success team, supporting the work of the organization in meaningful ways.