Dress for Success SW Florida offering professional retail training
Barbara Dell, CEO of Dress for Success SW Florida, is pleased to announce that the organization has received funding from Walmart Foundation, a Dress for Success grant partner, to provide free retail training to women who are unemployed or underemployed. Dress for Success SW Florida is one of about a dozen affiliates of Dress for Success Worldwide that will receive a portion of a $2.5-million grant intended to increase the economic mobility of entry level workers to advance their careers.
The Retail Education Advancing Leadership (REAL) training will be offered as part of the next Going Places Network (GPN) program, which will take place at the new Dress for Success SW Florida Career Center, 12995 S. Cleveland Ave. Suite 152, Fort Myers in the Pinebrook Plaza, next to the Dress for Success SW Florida Boutique. A mini-conference will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. August 3 through 5, followed by weekly meetings on Wednesdays from 9 a.m. – noon August 12 through September 16.
GPN is a specially-designed program providing a curriculum that blends a proven methodology to improve the career prospects of disadvantaged and helps them gain professional skills, accelerate their job searches and build confidence through weekly training sessions, one-on-one career coaching and networking in a supportive environment.
This will be the first time the GPN program through Dress for Success SW Florida will include the REAL retail training, which includes education in communication styles and problem solving, style and personal branding, phone interview techniques and tips, transferrable skills, and leadership and management techniques. Attendees will have the opportunity to speak with local employers and industry leaders such as White House Black Market, Chico’s, Walmart, Home Depot, various fashion boutiques and other retailers. Participants will also receive a free phone and one-year contract from TracFone through its Success is Calling program, as long as they attend the duration of the retail training program or obtain employment during the timeframe of the program.
Space in this free program is limited to 20 women, who must be an existing Dress for Success SW Florida client or be referred from another non-profit agency. For more information or to make a referral, contact Charlotte Richardson at charlotte@dfsswflorida.org or (239) 689-4992.
About Dress for Success SW Florida
Dress for Success SW Florida is part of a global movement for change, empowering women to obtain safer and better futures. Since starting operations in 1997, Dress for Success has expanded to more than 140 cities in 19 countries and has helped more than 850,000 women work towards self-sufficiency, while providing career wardrobes, employment counseling and mentoring. The Fort Myers location of Dress for Success SW Florida is 12995 S. Cleveland Ave. Suite 153, Fort Myers in the Pinebrook Plaza. The Naples location is 9015 Strada Stell Court, Suite 205. For information on Dress for Success SW Florida, email swflorida@dressforsuccess.org, call (239) 689-4992 or visit swflorida.dressforsuccess.org.
