Ready for a financial breakthrough? Come to the Wealth Academy

Save the Date: Saturday, February 2^nd, 2013.

 

Learn everything you need to know about money! Join us for the 7th Annual Wealth Academy for Women. There will be a great line up of amazing female presenters who understand more than finance – they understand how it is that women can learn about this commodity that affects everything we do in life. They understand how hard it can be to earn it – and how challenging it is to hang on to it. They are donating their time and skills to help us raise funds for Dress for Success Vancouver, and to help us to gain the freedom that knowledge can provide.

For only $89, (for tickets purchased in advance) you’ll learn how to have a positive relationship with what you earn. In addition you can sponsor someone from our Professional Women's Group and will be eligible for a tax receipt for the cost of sending her! Remember-100% of all proceeds will go towards Dress for Success. Sign up now! 

For more information:

sophiawealthacademy.com

LinkedIN Workshop a success!

On Tuesday, December, 4th, Dress for Success Vancouver's Career Centre hosted a LinkedIN Workshop at the BCIT Downtown Campus.  Volunteers from BCIT's Marketing Association hosted this very informative seminar at the campus computer lab where attendees were able to update their LinkedIN profile.  Within the 2 hour session, attendees were able to optimize their LinkedIN account and have their profile candidate ready!  Thank you to all the volunteers from the BCIT Marketing Association and the BCIT Downtown Campus for offering the computer lab.  The LinkedIN event was a successful one because of you!

Volunteers get ready to present!

...and Action! Attendees start updating their LinkedIN profiles.

South Coast Casuals Clothing Drive

South Coast Casuals is at it again! This week, starting on October 25 through October 7th, South Coast Casuals is holding a clothing drive for Dress for Success Vancouver!

First Annual Recognition Luncheon

On September 18, 2012, Dress for Success Vancouver hosted its First Annual Recognition Luncheon at the stunning Rosewood Hotel Georgia. This event honored three companies  and 1 individual for their contribution to the organization.

The afternoon began with a champagne tasting and mystery auction. Prizes included a Lia Sophia Jewelry set valued at $500, a Tory Burch purse, generously donated by Holt Renfrew, a For Better or For Worse Prize Pack and a gift certificate from West Restaurant!

Dress for Success World Wide CEO Joi Gordon flew in from New York for this event and shared her story of her passion for the organization that began 14 years ago while For Better or For Worse Cartoonist Lynn Johnston shared her story via live illustration! Lastly, Maria Amestoy, a Dress for Success Vancouver client, shared her journey with the attendees.


Honorees included:

 
Plum Clothing - “Greatest Overall Sponsorship & Support"

• For 14 years, this company has not only financially supported every single event, but has donated clothing, time and considerable expertise to success of the organization.  As a matter of record, their locations acted as the drop point for clothing donation for the first 6 years of our operation.

Katie O'Brien and Ed Des Roches of Plum with Dress for Success Vancouver Chair, Cindy Kaczmarek

 
Mills Basics - “Greatest Contribution - Financial and In Kind”

• For the past 10 years this company has provided Dress for Success all of our office and stationary supplies, a huge donation.  They have held suit drives, provided event sponsorship and associated public exposure.  The have always been there for intellectual support and most importantly, they hire our clients!

Second Stage Management - “Greatest In-Kind Sponsorship”

• For 7 years, our Impact event has been successful because of the good will of this company.  Impact is our largest fundraising and highest profile event and has become a fixture in the Vancouver calendar.  Beyond the Impact event, they have found us photographers, designers, printers, donations, sponsors and partners beyond what we have found otherwise.

4. Tracey Theemes - Sophia Financial Group - “Greatest Individual Contribution”

• This woman has created and hosted “Wealth Academy for Women”, a major contribution to the financial health of the organization and the intellectual wealth of Dress for Success clients, and hundreds of other women throughout the lower mainland - for 5 consecutive years.  Her efforts have not only served to directly impact the lives of women though her knowledge, freely given, but has impacted Dress for Success Vancouver with the gift of an excess of $20,000.

Lynn Johnston of For Better or For Worse

Joi Gordon, CEO of Dress for Success World Wide

In the Spanish Ballroom at the Hotel Rosewood Georgia

Special Thanks to:

• Lynn Johnston
• Joi Gordon
• Maria Amestoy
• The Rosewood Hotel Georgia
• Lia Sophia
• Holt Renfrew
• West Restaurant
• Second Stage Management
• Deirdre Lydon 

And huge thanks to everyone who attended, making our first Recognition Luncheon a success!

For more photos, visit us on Flickr.
 

Message from the Chair - September Newsletter

Message from the Chair

I write this message as the first day back to school reminds us all that the summer is passing and the beginnings of a new season are upon us. The first day back to school can be an exciting time for children and parents and anxiety provoking at the same time. What to wear, what will my new teacher be like, will my friends be near, and who will I eat lunch with are thoughts that I am sure each of us can remember. Incredibly, we got through that first day and first weeks with the help of others; and with any luck or good fortune we enjoyed a week without much incident and our confidence in the year ahead grew.

Imagine starting in a new job when you have been away from the workplace for a long time or perhaps you are going into a workplace like you have never been in before. Perhaps this is not a distant memory for some of you and for many women that we serve at Dress for Success Vancouver, the anxiety of an interview or a new job combined with limited personal and financial resources is very real.

Last year DFS was just that personal resource needed, serving more women than ever before and operating more programs than ever before. All of these results  were achieved while a fundamental change was being made to the service delivery model of employment services which is now under the umbrella of WorkBC. Incredibly all of this was delivered with the same compliment of amazing staff and dedicated cohort of extraordinary volunteers. Without their tireless efforts, the first days of work or that interview might not have been as successful as it could be for many women and their families. Confidence was built for over 2000 women in Vancouver.  Thank you!!

The year ahead for the Board is full opportunity as we think deeply about how we resource Dress for Success Vancouver financially and operationally. We want to continue to be the trusted resource to the women in our community who need our services and we must build a financial base that enables us to adapt and be nimble to the changing labour market. I am very exited about the possibilities and the years ahead. As we start our new year, we have many of our current Board members who will continue to be exceptionally committed and provide remarkable contributions through the giving of their time and expertise. We say thank you and good-bye to Sandra Wear who completed her term and welcome three new Board members; Brad Mills, Fereshteh Zeineddin, and Jane Estey. We look forward to the contributions that these three very talented people will bring to our Board.  To read more about each, please view the DFSV web-site for their Bios.

We are "going places, going strong"!