Dress For Success Boston: More Than Just Clothing

When two trafficking survivors arrived at the Family Justice Center with nothing but the clothes on their backs, Dress for Success Boston offered them more than just professional attire—it offered hope.

For Kim Todd, president of the organization, stories like this show the impact of its work, which goes beyond clothing. Dress for Success changes lives.

“I was definitely stepping outside my comfort zone to take this job because it was something I had never done before,” Todd said.

Today, as the organization’s president, Todd has transformed her initial fear into a mission of women’s empowerment. Founded in 2001, Dress for Success, a New York-based nonprofit organization, helps unemployed and underemployed women achieve economic independence by providing them with professional attire free of charge—including suits, dresses, bags, jewelry, shoes, and more. Dress for Success now has over 130 affiliates in 20 countries and has served more than 17,000 women. The Boston affiliate serves over 1,000 women a year, according to the organization’s website.

“I never saw myself as a leader,” Todd said. “But I’ve kind of grown into that role.”

Todd found herself drawn to the nonprofit sector, initially through temp work that unexpectedly revealed her passion for making a difference in people’s lives.

“I loved knowing that when I was at work, I was actually helping other people, so I just never really left the nonprofit world,” she said.

“Dress for Success Boston is located in the Family Justice Center, where women find resources to help them through experiences with human trafficking and domestic violence,” Todd said.

“They called us one afternoon and they said, ‘We have two clients who were just rescued from, like, a really bad situation,’ and they only had the clothes on their backs,” she said.

Natalie Sequea, the volunteer manager at Dress for Success Boston, truly believes in the work that she does at the organization. “I’ve seen how it has transformed my life and how much of a difference it makes for some of the clients that walk through our doors,” Sequea said.

Dress for Success Boston sees many women who are fighters—strong and brave. “I think for any strong woman to ask for help, that’s hard, that’s really hard,” Todd said. “I think that’s why I love it.”

Both Todd and Sequea say they believe that the organization’s impact goes far beyond clothing. “At the end of the day, we like to see the transformation from within,” Sequea said. “When a client puts on the perfect outfit, there’s a shimmering light that reflects from their eyes, and it just lights up the whole room.”

Todd added that she thinks the clothing is really just a vehicle for how Dress for Success makes the women feel.

“It really is about confidence, because if you don’t have confidence, it’s really hard to be successful,” she said. “It’s not even about the clothing; it’s about how a woman feels when she leaves that day.”

Irene Chavez, who has volunteered at Dress for Success for almost two years now, found Dress for Success while trying to donate clothes. Since volunteering here, Chavez described her role as only “a small part” of what Sequea does.

“Natalie does everything, even dressing people,” she said. “I always tell her, ‘I don’t know how you do this; it’s impossible.’” Chavez said the volunteers make up a big role in the organization, but there’s room for improvement in recruiting more people to help.

“Sometimes clothes get discarded because they need minor fixes,” Chavez said. “I try to do some of it, but it’s too much.”

Todd, on the other hand, only steps in to help dress women when necessary.

“I don’t get to dress women often,” Todd said. “When I first started, I did it because we didn’t have a lot of volunteers, but now I just fill in when they need me.”

Although more volunteers would help, Chavez does everything she can to provide the women with confidence.

“My job is to help them like what they see,” Chavez said. “My hope is to make them feel beautiful, worthy, and that they can get that job because they feel so confident.”

Sequea agreed—her goal is to inspire meaningful change in women’s lives.

“I feel that we are going to make a difference in a young woman’s life in terms of being better, showing up for themselves, and letting them know that they are more than their situation,” she said.

Sequea wants every woman to know that they can always overcome their adversities.

“You are not defined by whatever situation you’re going through at this point in time. Focus, and you can always step out and step ahead and up,” she said.

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