SEATTLE — A Seattle organization is trying to close the gender pay gap and help more women get into the workforce. Now, a new location is helping them do it.
For nearly three decades, Dress for Success Seattle has provided free clothing to women attending job interviews or starting a new job.
“If you look good, you feel good, essentially,” said Abi Sparks, who runs wardrobe and serves as the organization’s Program Coordinator. “That’s how we want our clients to feel.”
But the free clothing is just the tip of the iceberg for an organization that does so much more.
“We have a PR problem, right? Everybody knows us for the clothing. It’s our most famous program,” said Dress for Success Seattle Executive Director Malia Razzaia. “But there’s so much more than the clothing, and that’s really been the evolution of Dress for Success Seattle.”
The organization runs financial workshops, career summits, offers networking help, and even has a program to help you get a computer.
“How do we get the word out there that we are a robust workforce development organization that creates this safer space for women to network and build community?” Razzaia said.
The organization’s new location in Downtown Seattle, right on the ground floor of Pacific Place Mall, will help those programs continue to grow.
The new location will more than quadruple the organization’s space, offering a new permanent workshop classroom, a co-working space for clients, a permanent closet section, and more.
“Our previous space was 1507 square feet,” Razzaia said. “In a week, we could be reshuffling everything from a classroom to a wardrobe program to a mentoring program.”
Razzaia said the organization should be able to provide 35-50% more programming to serve the community with this new space.
“There’s 3.8 million women in Washington, when you add in the nonbinary community, there’s even more,” Razzaia said. “I want to see every single one of them walk through our doors.”
You can follow along with Dress for Success Seattle’s latest events on Instagram here.
You can find contact information on the organization’s website here.
The organization is always looking for volunteers, especially volunteer stylists. The organization also holds clothing donation drives quarterly. Learn more here.