Portland, OR. Dress for Success Oregon held its largest annual gala fundraiser, Celebrate Success, at the Portland Art Museum on April 27, 2018. The 450 guests raised over $260,000, which supports job retention programs. Platinum Sponsor, Bank of America’s guests enjoyed the evening and toasted DFSO’s mission. Several Dress for Success clients shared their journeys from hardship and discouragement to self-determination and job success. Women from the community who have written their own success stories were honored with the Athena Award. Athena Award winners are women who, “know that we are all connected and, that what we do for “one,” we do for all.” (Photo credit, Images by Brant)
DFSO Board Co-Chair Traci Ray, Board Co-Chair Cindy Larson, Athena Award Winners: Adrienne Nelson, Graciela Cowger, Janelle Bynum, Monique Barton, and DFSO Executive Director Shari Dunn.
Sarah Howard, Debbie Johnsen, DFSO Board Member Lucy Kivel, Gwyneth Gamble-Booth, and Scott Howard.
Bidders enjoy an exciting live auction and paddle raise.
2018 Athena Award Honorees are:
• Monique Barton, Senior Vice President of Bank of America, a leader in philanthropy in Oregon and SW Washington and a long-time partner and supporter of the women we serve.
• Rep. Janelle Bynum, Democrat – District 51 – Clackamas, the first African-American woman to represent District 51 in the State Legislature and a fierce advocate for women and girls.
• Graciela Gomez Cowger, CEO of Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, both the first woman to lead the 125-year-old firm and one of only a handful of Latinas to lead a U.S. law firm.
• The Honorable Adrienne Nelson, the first African-American to sit on the state’s highest court in its 158-year history and on any appellate state court.
The Celebrate Success event featured a cocktail reception, Diamond Dig, aerialists, three-course-dinner, live auction, and a masquerade ball after party. Poison Waters was the emcee for the event. Longtime partner Bank of America was the Platinum sponsor of the evening.
Portland, October 13th, 2015. Over 270 people attended Dress for Success Oregon‘s third-annual Empowerment Breakfast. The event drew business, civic and social leaders who support the elimination of racial, economic and gender lines in the workplace. Dress for Success Oregon’s mission is to help low-income women present themselves in a positive light to gain employment, independence and self-worth. The Empowerment Breakfast Panel included: Lisa Fisher, Intel Manager; client Patsy Hall, Transition Projects Outreach Specialist; emcee Shari Dunn, DFSO Executive Director; client Bessie Kirkland, Jean’s Place Mentor Specialist; and keynote speaker Nadya Okamoto, the Executive Director of Camions of Care.
DFSO Board Member, Sara Weinstein; DFSO volunteer, Bonnie Schimschock; Jane Orlowski; Demetra Star; DFSO Board President, Cindy Larson.
Sam Scheinberg, Cherrie Scheinberg and DFSO Board Member, Justin Nielsen
The event featured 17 year-old keynote speaker and Executive Director of Camions of Care, Nadya Okamoto. The nonprofit she founded distributes feminine hygiene products to women who need them.
From Dress for Success:
Dress for Success Oregon is an anti-poverty nonprofit organization that has been helping low-income women successfully transition back into the workforce since 1999.
We promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.
Portland, July 11, 2013. During the month of June, U.S. Trust, Bank of America & Merrill Lynch colleagues collected suits for the nonprofit Dress for Success in northeast Portland. Volunteers brought the items to organization’s offices including, Siri Gypmantasiri, Merrill Lynch; Barb Attridge, Dress For Success; Monique Barton, Bank of America; Tara Kinateder, U.S. Trust.
The mission of Dress for Success Oregon is to promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.
From Dress for Success:
Well known as an organization that provides professional clothing, we are also committed to getting low income women’s lives back on track through financial stability, personal growth, career mentoring, job retention skills, education, and support groups. Over 160 human service organizations refer clients to Dress for Success Oregon every year. When a woman gets a job, she has access to a full array of services to help her remain employed and financially viable.
Portland, April 19th, 2013. The 13th Annual “Celebrate Success” was sold out and raised $300,000. The diamond dig was a popular activity sponsored by “Diamonds by Passerini.” The event has grown from a luncheon for 200 to a sell-out dinner for over 500 of business and community leaders who support Dress for Success. The annual gala raises funds to help women in poverty move towards self-sufficiency. (Photo credit, Andie Petkus) The gala was held at the Portland Art Museum and the theme this year was springtime in Paris.
Margaret Hinshaw, Roger Hinshaw (President of Bank of America Oregon and SW Washington), and Peggy Willer
Tara Kinateder, Barb Attridge, and Vince Whiting
Priscilla Lewis with daughters, Summer Lewis and Noelle Webster
Karen Fishel, Dress for Success Oregon Board of Directors and Co-Founder of Dress for Success Oregon, and Lisa Lucas, Dress for Success Oregon Board of Directors.
Celebrate Success 2013 Diamond Sponsor, Todd Passerini, from Diamonds by Passerini
Amy and Kathleen Larson
From Dress for Success:
Dress for Success Oregon is a nonprofit organization that has been helping low-income women successfully transition back into the workforce since 1999. We promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.
Dress for Success Oregon is the local affiliate to a worldwide organization Dress for Success. All money raised for Dress for Success Oregon stays in our local community. We receive no tax dollars and are 100% funded by the generosity of people like you.
Portland, Ore. April, 19th, 2013 — The Bank of America Charitable Foundation has just selected Dress for Success Oregon as its annual Neighborhood Builder winner in Portland, an honor that entails a $200,000 unrestricted grant as well as leadership development training to help nonprofit leaders gain valuable skills while applying funding where it is most needed.
Roger Hinshaw (left) and Monique Barton (right) from Bank of America present Barb Attridge (center) with a $200,000 check for Dress For Success.
Each year in the Portland area, Bank of America honors one local nonprofit with the Neighborhood Builder award — as part of its broader philanthropy commitment — and focuses the Builder nominees on high-performing organizations that have a significant impact in the community within the funding areas of jobs, hunger and housing. By design, the Neighborhood Builder program is a strategic investment that pairs leadership training with the grant, in order to maximize impact and reach.
“Nonprofit organizations provide much-needed services to our local communities but too often they lack the resources and opportunity to invest in their own long-term planning, growth and development,” said Monique Barton, Bank of America’s senior vice president of corporate social responsibility. “By recognizing Dress for Success Oregon as our Neighborhood Builder winner this year, we know they will make an even greater impact and help more women get the resources they need to find a job and establish economic stability
The mission of Dress for Success is to promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support, a mentor and career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. The organization helps low-income women in Portland and southwest Washington specifically build their self-esteem, create a network of support, get a job, transition off of public welfare and make choices that lead them out of poverty, according to Barb Attridge, the organization’s executive director and co-founder.
“We’re honored to receive this generous grant and training from Bank of America, which will help us lay the groundwork for a stable and sustainable organization, while increasing the infrastructure so that we can continue our growth to meet demand,” said Attridge. “Our long-term goal is to build multiple service centers within Oregon and Southwest Washington to serve a broader population and help more low-income women get the training and resources they need to gain and keep employment.”
Last year, Dress for Success Oregon helped 1,450 local, low-income women and, with Bank of America’s grant, the organization hopes to increase this number to at least 1,500 women this year and even more next year.
The $200,000 grant from Bank of America will support Dress for Success Oregon’s growth, infrastructure and program expansion by enabling the organization to hire two new employees, implement a course on personal finance education and increase by 10 percent the number of women served by the organization. The grant will also help establish Dress for Success’ Career Center which will be the organization’s first permanent venue to hold regular educational workshops including financial literacy and job preparation courses.
Information provided by Dress for Success and Bank of America.
About the Builder program
According to the Bridgespan Group, Neighborhood Builders is the largest investment in nonprofit leadership development: 2.5 times the next largest program (in spending) and the third largest in number of leaders served. Since 2004, Bank of America has invested more than $165 million through the program, recognized over 730 nonprofits and trained nearly 1,500 nonprofit leaders. The Neighborhood Builders program is a capstone initiative building on the bank’s broader philanthropic commitment to addressing core issues that are critical to the economic vitality of local economies, with a particular focus on low and moderate income communities.
About Bank of America Corporate Social Responsibility
Bank of America’s commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a strategic part of doing business globally. Our CSR efforts guide how we operate in a socially, economically, financially and environmentally responsible way around the world, to deliver for shareholders, customers, clients and employees. Our goal is to help create economically vibrant regions and communities through lending, investing and giving. By partnering with our stakeholders, we create value that empowers individuals and communities to thrive and contributes to the long-term success of our business. We have several core areas of focus for our CSR, including responsible business practices; environmental sustainability; strengthening local communities with a focus on housing, hunger and jobs; investing in global leadership development; and engaging through arts and culture. As part of these efforts, employee volunteers across the company contribute their time, passion and expertise to address issues in communities where they live and work. Learn more at www.bankofamerica.com/about and follow us on Twitter at @BofA_Community. For more Bank of America news, visit the Bank of America newsroom.
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