How to Hold a Purse Party

As we mentioned earlier, Oakridge Centre is holding a big Purse Fundraiser for us from July 20th - August 2nd. Visit the Oakridge blog at http://oakridgestyle.com/purse_party/ to find out how you can hold a purse party and enter to win a $1000 shopping spree. Just a reminder, it's good luck to donate a purse with some coin in it so feel free to drop a loonie or toonie into each purse you donate to help support Dress for Success® Vancouver programs.

New $500 Scholarship for Professional Women's Group

One of our Professional Women's Group graduates has made a contribution of $500 towards a scholarship which will benefit one of our current PWG members. We are delighted that one of our past graduates is in a position to create a new scholarship for a PWG member looking to upgrade her skills.

Snoop Dogg and Lisa at the Vancouver Airport

While Lucia and Lisa were on their way to the PWG Success Summit in San Francisco they met a celebrity at the Vancouver Airport. Snoop Dogg was gracious enough to pose for a photo with Lisa, our PWG delegate. By chance, Lisa and Lucia travelled on the same flight as Snoop Dogg. This only increased their anticipation of the Summit put on by Dress for Success® Worldwide. Stay tuned for more news from the PWG Success Summit.

Featured in Vancouver View

Dress for Success Vancouver was featured in the July/August edition of Vancouver View in an article titled "Dressed in Growth and Inspiration" (pg. 65) . Check out the full article click here.

Innovator Award 2009

Dress For Success® Vancouver was presented with the 2009 Innovator Award at the Dress For Success® 2009 Annual Leadership Conference this week.

Oakridge Centre - Every woman deserves a great purse!

Gather your friends and host a Purse Party in support of Dress for Success® Vancouver . Collect as many new or gently used purses as you can and bring them to the Oakridge Centre Concierge Desk between July 20 - Aug 2 and you could win a $1000 Oakridge Centre shopping spree! The more purses you donate, the more chances to win.

As your mom may have told you, you should never give an empty purse, so rather than dropping in a penny for prosperity, how about a loonie or at toonie. All donations benefit Dress For Success® Vancouver and support women in our community to overcome barriers to employment.

One entry per donated item. Some restrictions apply. Full contest details available at http://www.oakridgecentre.com/.

The Oakridge Centre, “How to host a Purse Party” blog will launch on Monday, July 21st at Oakridgestyle.com.

Dress For Success® closed NASDAQ on July 14, 2009

This week Dress For Success® Worldwide held their 2009 Annual Leadership Conference from July 12th - 15th in New York city. Deb attended the event and appears in this video from July 14th, where members from the Dress for Success® affiliates rang the bell to signify the closing of NASDAQ. This event had historic significance as this is the first time that only one organization closed NASDAQ.

Oakridge Centre Purse Drive

Oakridge Centre has committed to organizing a purse drive for us in September. Check back later for more details about this exciting event.

Congratulations PWG 14

(In this image: PWG 14 graduates and mentors)

In June 2009 we celebrated the graduation of our 14th Professional Women’s Group (PWG). PWG 14 consisted of 15 members who graduated in June 2009. These women completed an 18-month program in which they met monthly for networking, educational seminars, and support sessions.

Monthly PWG meetings focus on empowering women through celebrating successes (ya-ya sessions), give the opportunity for consultations with mentors, and feature seminars from professional speakers on topics such as stress management, effective communication, goal setting, finance and more.

Congratulations to our PWG 14 graduates and thank you to our mentors!

Oakridge Centre

Oakridge Centre has committed to raising $50,000.00 (a combined cash and in-kind donation) for Dress for Success® Vancouver from May 2009 - May 2010 as the mall celebrates it's 50th Anniversary! Watch for details here as we get closer to the fashion show extravaganza being held at Oakridge in September.

To view other upcoming events at Oakridge Centre click this link.

Featured in Volunteer Vancouver's New Book

Volunteer Vancouver recently launched their new book, A People Lens: 101 Ways to Move Your Organization Forward, which has an article featuring Dress for Success® Vancouver. If you are interested in purchasing a copy of this wonderful book please visit Volunteer Vancouver and don't forget to check our their new blog!

The full text article featuring Dress for Success® Vancouver is available below. This text was provided courtesy of Volunteer Vancouver.


D a v e M a c d o n a l d a n d L o r e t t a C e l l a

Roles: Job Search Trainers,
Dress for Success Vancouver

By Suzanne Westover

At West Pacific Consulting Group (WPCG), Dave Macdonald,
a certified management accountant, administers the company’s
Corporate Responsibility program with a team of inspired
employees. The initiative has blossomed as employees became
excited about donating their skills as well as their time.

Dress for Success promotes the independence of economically
disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a
network of support, and the career development tools they
require to thrive in both work and life. Pairing up with them
seemed like the perfect match.

“At its core, recruitment is people management,” Dave says.
“By partnering with Dress for Success Vancouver, we needed to
relate to a different group of people—in this instance, women
who’d been marginalized in some way though addiction,
immigration or abuse. We volunteered our services to support
them through the process of job hunting.”

WPCG focused on creating a workshop with the core message
that seeking employment must be treated as a fulltime job.
The WPCG team met with the leadership at Dress for Success
Vancouver to hammer out expectations.

“This was a very important step,” says Dave. “It allowed us to
have a serious conversation about timelines and realistic goals.
Through open communication, Dress for Success Vancouver
was able to ensure that we did not want for any resources
that might be reasonably available, and that our objectives
were understood. This type of workshop was new for us,
but it was also new for them. We came from really separate
worlds. Corporate environments are often insulated from the
challenges of the marginalized.”

“We contacted Loretta Cella, a certified life coach and youth
advocate, and asked her to bring her 10 years of experience
in dealing with young, marginalized women to the table,”
explains Dave. Loretta readily agreed to view the first
workshop and work with WPCG to hone their delivery.

As a result of Loretta’s invaluable advice, WPCG employees
have been able to fine tune their workshops, which have
continued to evolve. “We get better with each workshop,
and so we’re able to contribute more each time. This is an
incredible motivator that keeps our staff engaged.”