WOMEN’S WELLNESS INITIATIVE

SUCCESSFUL PILOT PROGRAMS

Collegiate chapters work diligently each year to support our National Service Partner, Dress For Success. However, many campuses are not located close to an affiliate Dress For Success location. Collegiate chapters wanted recommendations on more creative ways to support their local Dress For Success affiliates from both near and far.

In 2021–2022 academic year, three collegiate chapters were selected as part of the Dress For Success pilot program to foster more impactful involvement with local Dress For Success affiliates. Here's what these chapters learned after working for their

local affiliates:

Gamma Tau members pose in front of a Dress For Success van (Deanna Jones, second from left)

GAMMA TAU/LEBANON VALLEY Clothing Drive

Working alongside Dress For Success South Central PA, the Gamma Tau Chapter hosted a two-week clothing drive to collect professional attire, shoes, handbags, and accessories. “It was advertised as a ‘spring closet clean out’ for students and their families,” said Director of Philanthropy Deanna Jones (Gamma Tau 2021/Lebanon Valley). “I went around town posting flyers, sharing on social media and community pages, and asked some local alumnae to share.”

After just one week, the chapter ran out of room to store the donated clothing. “Since it was the first time holding this event, we were unsure how it would turn out. After just one week, we ran out of room on our clothing racks, and our school’s Community Service Coordinator had to hold some stuff in her closets to make room,” said Deanna. This project also strengthened the chapter’s relationship with Dress For Success South Central PA. Deanna said, “I feel this project helped our chapter learn even more about this amazing organization, connect with them more, and bring up some more opportunities and ideas that we could do in the future.”

After the project ended, Deanna sent out a survey and found that many people were interested in donating yearly and learning more about Dress For Success. She said, “I had people emailing and reaching out to me already asking if we would be doing it again. It was truly amazing and rewarding seeing how many people truly loved this project and organization.” To other Alpha Sigma Tau chapters who are looking to improve their involvement with Dress For Success, Deanna recommends just trying. “Try all different types of projects. Communicate, have meetings with Sisters to ask what they think, talk with your Dress For Success affiliate to learn more about them, and most importantly, enjoy it. You have to enjoy it as much as everyone who donates.” Excitingly, the chapter currently plans to host this clothing drive every year. Deanna shared, “It makes me feel good that now we have a new spring service event that not only the chapter and Dress For Success look forward to, but families and surrounding communities can keep an eye out for. All the Sisters loved being involved with this and cannot wait for it.”

Attendees listen to panelists during Phi’s Zoom event

PHI/SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA Virtual Career Panel

With COVID-19 restrictions in place, the Phi Chapter embraced a virtual option to empower women and support Dress For Success – a career panel with local businesswomen and former Dress For Success clients. Part networking opportunity and part seminar, attendees had the chance to attend breakout sessions on everything from starting a business to professional interview attire.

The event was primarily for the Panhellenic women on Southeastern Louisiana’s campus, but anyone from the campus and community was welcome to attend. Overall, nearly 100 women attended the panel. Director of Philanthropy Kelsey David (Phi 2019/Southeastern Louisiana) shared, “The Tri Sigma chapter even made event attendance mandatory!” Attendees found the event well-done and informative. “It was rewarding to see that work pay off,” said Kelsey. “Everyone loved hearing the personal stories of the panelists, and everyone got something out of it.”

For other chapters considering a Dress For Success event like this, Kelsey had these words of wisdom: “Believe in yourself, your team, and your event. When establishing a

new event, you want it to be impactful. It was an eye-opening experience – I learned a lot about myself and doing something from the ground up. If you don’t believe, your event isn’t as impactful.”

UPSILON/CENTRAL ARKANSAS Outfit Slideshow & Sponsorship Budget

The Upsilon Chapter focused on developing a two-fold project that would support individual Dress For Success clients visiting the local affiliate and help the affiliate garner support and sponsorships from the local community. For clients, the chapter’s flyers and slideshow provided outfit inspiration during a Dress For Success appointment. For the community side of the project, the chapter crafted a monthly budget for each client. “This budget shows costs for transportation, toiletries, cosmetics, and additional expenses the [client] may have,” said Director of Philanthropy Addison Dawson (Upsilon 2020/Central Arkansas). Using this budget, the chapter was able to advertise how an individual or business in the community could sponsor a Dress For Success client by covering those costs. The chapter decided on these digital pieces of support because the university is almost three hours away from the closest Dress For Success affiliate. Addison said, “I was concerned about how we would be able to help… but when we brainstormed unique ways for us to get involved, I learned that you can make an impact [from] anywhere.”

Upsilon’s monthly budget shows Dress For Success donors how they make an impact

SUPPORTING OUR WOMEN IN STEM

By: Sanzi Sultana (Epsilon Iota 2020/NYIT)

Over the summer, I interned as a Natural Learning Processing (NLP) intern at Brain Technologies, Inc., a machine learning and artificial intelligence start-up in California. This internship was an amazing learning experience for me. When I learned about this field, I thought it would be too difficult, but with the support of others, I proved myself wrong. One source of support was Girls Who Code, which helped open the doors to my passion for technology and become a leader for my fellow women in tech. That’s why I love all the opportunities Girls Who Code provides for their alumni while they enter the workplace. In August, Girls Who Code hosted the New York City Interns Meetup. They worked with TransPerfect—a translation and language services company that offers technology solutions for businesses—for an evening of networking with their employees. This meet-up was an inspiring event that allowed me to meet my peers and women who face similar roadblocks and struggles, like imposter syndrome. During this meetup, I met interns from companies such as L’Oreal and Microsoft, as well as incoming freshmen attending university at Columbia and Syracuse. Most importantly, however, I made two incredible connections. First, I met an alumnus from New York Institute of Technology who worked at TransPerfect. I also met a fellow machine learning intern who, like me, felt intimidated by machine learning and wanted to find a fellow woman to support her and help one another out.

This NLP internship has been a rollercoaster, from underestimating myself and not believing that I belonged to realizing this is a field in which I excel.

Girls Who Code, my friends, and my Sisters reminded me that I do belong and that this was something I could accomplish.

During the internship, my Sisters would remind me every day that I was one of two undergraduates accepted to this program and the only intern with no background in this field in whom they saw potential. That’s why I love our amazing Sisterhood. We support each other and are there to remind each other of our successes!

If you are interested in how Girls Who Code can support you in your career journey, visit their College and Career programs here:

girlswhocode.com/programs/college-and-career