Gender Equality Australia Project #56092

Our changing rooms change lives

by Dress for Success New South Wales & Australian Capital Territory

Project Report | Jan 22, 2023
Our changing rooms change lives

By Amelia Lawrence | Head of Philanthropy and Partnerships

With the start of the global pandemic, a booming travel industry was quickly crumbling and making swift changes. Isela was made redundant with no notice, and no support package.

Originally from South America, Isela missed her family. Luckily, she had her husband’s support and together, they were able to supplement some lost income through AirBNB, until that too stopped. Lost, despondent and locked down, Isela would find and lose another job before she found Dress for Success.

Isela attended her first workshop on resilience and loved every minute of it. Further diving into the Career Support Program, Isela enrolled in more online workshops, attended a weekly networking session, and qualified for the one-on-one coaching program. Through tailored coaching and countless interviews, Isela landed a position and has been working for four months as a Customer Service Officer at a bank. Additionally, she graduated with a Diploma in Leadership Management from the Institute of Learning and Further Education.

With reflection, Isela says she’s learned to be grateful for what she has and wasn’t ready to give up, but she just needed a little bit of support.

Links:

Permalink

Sep 7, 2022
Changing women's lives, one woman at a time

By Amelia Lawrence | Head of Philanthropy and Partnerships

Many women looking for work face bias.They create opportunities where they can. But discrimination, stereotyping, and exclusion can leave them feeling discouraged and without confidence. Gender equality is an urgent issue, and your support for disadvantaged women is something we are grateful for every single day.

At Dress for Success, we believe that a woman’s disadvantage should not mean her unemployment. When we talk about disadvantaged women, we think of women like Marina, who decided in her 50s to follow her children from Mexico to Australia and start a new life. She had been a Kindergarten teacher for many years, shaping the minds of young children.

The pandemic meant Marina’s job was unsustainable and she was made redundant, her housing situation soon collapsed, and she faced homelessness. Away from the family and community she knew, Marina felt alone in Australia.

Once a poised professional, the blow to her self-esteem and confidence following redundancy was making the job hunt a challenge and distressing.

“I didn’t feel employable or capable. I had lost my confidence, and my experiences at work with previous managers wasn’t helping me at all.”

Many women looking for work feel unemployable. Your support for our work changes these women's lives for the better.

This all changed when Marina discovered Dress for Success’ Chill, Chat, and Connect sessions which allowed Marina to connect with women from all walks of life, to reassure her she wasn’t alone. “The Chill, Chat, and Connect showed me other women who were struggling, who had also been employed with good jobs in their home countries.”

Through the sessions, Marina built up her confidence through building community. The process reaffirmed Marina’s self-worth and changed her approach towards her career and life. This support also led to multiple interviews, one of which soon became her permanent full-time role.

Many women like Marina have been put in a precarious financial situation due to the pandemic. Women are more likely to be employed in the industries that face the longest road to recovery – like education. We continue to provide practical support for women seeking employment to overcome any barriers faced when rebuilding their careers.

When women work, families thrive and our whole community prospers.

Marina is now thriving in her new job, which she plans to keep until retirement. “Thanks to Dress for Success I was able to be confident and have the clarity of what path to take. People in Dress for Success believed in me when I was not believing in me; their support was paramount for my career change and to achieve and land the role I have now... I am very fortunate and very thankful.”

You can hear Marina talk about how support like yours changed her life at our YouTube page.

Thank you for being a part of this journey with us, to change the lives of even more women like Marina. We couldn't do it without you.

Links:

Permalink

‹ 1 2

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can recieve an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.