How Dress for Success lifts all women up

Mauricio Diaz

Sure, Mauricio Diaz has heard it before: “A man leading a women’s organization?” But the way he sees it, supporting and championing women is for everyone.

“It’s so important to have strong allies in this work,” said Diaz, who is the executive director of Dress for Success Quad Cities. “Ultimately, we can only solve a lot of the issues in our community and across the country through allyship.”

Fortunately, Diaz knows how to bring people together around a common cause. Before joining Dress for Success in May of 2022, he spent three years in community organizing and coalition building. In his first job with the Iowa Democratic Party, he oversaw 300 volunteers; later, when he took on Iowa’s 1st congressional district, that number grew to 830. Traveling all over Iowa as constituency engagement director, he was responsible for organizing in a diverse set of caucuses and communities, from Latinx to women to rural. And while he was at it? He went ahead and led the effort to unionize a staff of 112.

“It was all about: ‘How do you engage folks? How do you build your base?’” Diaz said. “I learned how to meet people where they’re at and be more accessible.”

At Dress for Success, his sights are set on serving more women, growing the organization’s presence in the region, and continuing to build the volunteer base that powers so much of its work. In part, that means educating the community on all the ways Dress for Success advances its holistic mission of empowering women to achieve financial independence and thrive in work and life.

Come together

Diaz knows the power of bringing people together to better themselves and one another. That’s why he attends CEOLink and DevelopmentLink, monthly networking groups for nonprofit executive directors and development professionals hosted by the Quad Cities Community Foundation.

“This is really a safe space to share challenges and connect with people,” said Diaz. “It’s been so nice to have conversations on these important topics with my peers at nonprofits across the community.”

Learn more about our networking groups here.

Clothing, as the nonprofit’s name suggests, is one of those ways. Women can come for interview outfit and job wardrobe stylings with volunteer image coaches or stop by for Fill-a-Bag Friday, where they can take home a large tote bag of clothing of their choice for only $35. For those working outside an office setting, appropriate attire for careers in healthcare, food service, and more is available. Most importantly, Dress strives to provide clothing clients actually want to wear.

“We’re focused on helping women gain confidence and dignity, whether they’re returning to the workforce, switching careers, coming out of a divorce, or in any other situation,” said Diaz. “Helping all women is one of our biggest values at Dress.”

But not everyone knows that Dress for Success does more than clothing. In fact, every woman who works with the organization takes at least one career and professional development workshop, with incentives for taking more. One-on-one career coaching offers everything from self-assessment and help with the job search to resume editing and mock interviews. Additional workshops led by local leaders and meetings of the Professional Women’s Group, which Diaz has relaunched after a pandemic hiatus, offer even more opportunities to develop skills and forge bonds of sisterhood.

“Learning from each other is how we lift all women up,” said Diaz. “My goal is to connect people to services they wouldn’t have had otherwise—and to each other.”

In a region where women make only 72 cents for every dollar earned by a man, Diaz recognizes that it’s going to take a sustained and comprehensive approach to advance gender equity locally. It will also take a broad base of support. Yet he believes the generosity of the community is a strength to build upon, from those who give their time and talent to make Dress for Success’s programs possible to those who give financially to ensure that those programs are available at no cost. Dress for Success has received funding from both the Community Foundation’s grant programs and grants directed by generous donors who hold their funds at the Community Foundation.

“I’ve spent time in different communities in Iowa and Illinois, and never have I been so welcomed as in the Quad Cities,” Diaz said. “I think that goes to show how giving this community is and how collaborative people want to be.”

Learn more about how to get involved with Dress for Success Quad Cities as a donor, volunteer, or client here.