Life & Work with Stephanie Silvers of St Paul/Greater Minneapolis Metro Area

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Silvers.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Before joining Dress for Success Twin Cities in 2010, I was the Program Director for At Home Group in Minneapolis for three years. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in Urban Studies and African American Studies from the University of Minnesota. While I was a student, I interned with St. Stephen’s Human Services. At St. Stephen’s, I acquired a passion for social service and began to develop skills that led me to a career in programming and leading social change initiatives to help women thrive in work and life. Now I serve as the CEO of Dress for Success Twin Cities where we help women develop skills, gain employment or advance their career, and build confidence through our holistic programming. My favorite piece of the work I do is the ability to see women grow. Watching women change the world into a more equitable and better place gives me hope.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
In the last year and a half, Dress for Success Twin Cities experienced a historically challenging pandemic, continued racial injustice in our communities, and a fire at our building leaving it uninhabitable.

Because of the barriers and health risks created by the pandemic, Dress for Success Twin Cities had to rethink what our holistic programs would look like. We transitioned our clients to online support and worked to ensure clients had access to technology to be able to engage in our programs and apply for employment. This included providing laptops and hotspots to clients. We continued to offer high impact programming, meeting women where they are; to gain financial stability through employment, develop workplace skills, and define their own path to success. The pivot towards online programming helped us continue meeting the needs of the women we serve, allowing us to serve more than double what we had anticipated for 2020.

The murder of George Floyd required us to pause, listen, and learn. We realized we needed to do more to fight the racial injustice in our communities and the workforce. At Dress for Success Twin Cities; we believe it is critical to address the issues of systemic racism and break down the barriers that women of color face in the workforce. By listening to and hearing the stories and experiences shared by our clients and volunteers, we are learning how to better support them and be better advocates to ensure racial inclusivity. Through our IDEA Coalition, we are holding ourselves accountable to this commitment toward racial inclusivity and partnering with companies and individuals across the Twin Cities to create positive change for every woman.

On July 16th, our building caught on fire; it rendered our building condemned and uninhabitable due to extensive damage of smoke and water. Despite losing our physical location, we maintained consistent services and programming. Online services had been established during the pandemic and continued without interruption. We leaned on community partners, Arc Village and Vine and Branches; utilizing their inventory so our clients were able to get the employment attire they needed.

Despite these challenges Dress for Success Twin Cities is still a vital resource for women in the Twin Cities. Instead of rebuilding we are using this opportunity to focus on launching our Mobile Confidence Center in 2022. The Mobile Confidence Center will allow us to meet women where they are at. In an out-fitted re-vamped RV we will bring highly individualized attire and career ready services to women throughout the Twin Cities Metro; with the flexibility of being on the road, we will serve clients with little to no access to transportation in areas and in spaces they already feel safe. We see this as the next piece in our evolution and are excited to serve even more women in the metro area.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
With more than 10 years of experience in non-profit development and leadership, I took over as the Executive Director in January 2016 and now serve as the CEO after initially joining Dress for Success Twin Cities as a volunteer. My passion for helping women thrive in work and life has consistently led me to work with agencies, corporations, and independent clients to help build stable relationships and empower women through employment. I won the Wavemaker award from TeamWomen and have served on the board of the 1006. However, I am most proud of the women I have seen come through the doors of Dress for Success. Watching them succeed and launch themselves into sustainable futures gives me the strength to keep going and reminds me that obstacles can be overcome and even won.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
One of the most poignant memories I have is during a Holocaust education week. We were shown a video where a survivor recounted his story of survival but part of that required him to decide the fate of someone else. I wanted to ensure that that kind of hate and desire to destroy people of their humanity is something I want to ensure never happens in our world again. By empowering women and working to have hard conversations that can lead to change and hopefully a future in which no one will be forced to make those kinds of inhumane decisions again.

Pricing:

• Our services are free for all women who register with us.
• We are looking for donations through GiveMN https://www.givemn.org/story/Gtmd21dfstc
• We also accept cash donations

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dressforsuccesstwincities.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dressforsuccesstc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dressforsuccesstwincities

Image Credits
Dress for Success Twin Cities page/publicity.