Dress for Success Western MA
Our Mission /Vision /Purpose | Our Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion | Our Staff | Our Boards | Dress for Success Worldwide
Our Mission /Vision /Purpose
The mission of Dress for Success is to empower women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and the development tools to help women thrive in work and life.
Our vision is a world where women do not live in poverty. We strive for a world where all women are financially independent, are treated with dignity and respect and are directly impacting their lives and those of their families. We aspire to a world that fully harnesses the power of women and recognizes their role in economic sustainability.
Our purpose is to offer long-lasting solutions that enable women to break the cycle of poverty. Dress for Success is a part of a global movement for change, empowering women to obtain safer and better futures.
Our Statements on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Diversity: DFSWM welcomes participants that reflect the community we serve. This includes participants across all lines of differences; racial groups, ethnicities, religion, socioeconomic backgrounds, cultural values, gender identities, gender expression groups, and varying abilities. The DFSWM community embraces our partnership with the greater community. We activate diversity through empathy and compassion by cultivating respect, collaboration, and open-mindedness.
Inclusion: DFSWM inspires and enlightens the community through the dynamic facets of the distinct gifts that each participant brings to our organization. We empower each person to come to DFSWM with their own growth mindset and unique abilities. Our mission is to provide equal and equitable access in everything we do. Participants are welcomed, valued, and celebrated to build a culture of esteem and belonging-that allows for a feeling of personal achievement and self-expression that helps to build DFSWM and its community. This will enhance DFSWM as a whole organization through the unique assets of its individuals’ abilities.
Equity: DFSWM’s mission focuses on helping community participants gain economic independence. We recognize that systemic racism disenfranchises many specific populations and leads to economic challenges. We know this will not change immediately. We strive to support participants through this journey, with the developmental tools necessary, to balance the scales of injustice and inequity. Just like our mission, we know that our own ability to build a diverse, equitable, and anti-racist organization will require change. We are committed to walk with our participants and allow them to reveal to us the injustices and the obstacles they need to overcome. This will help us to understand all of our participants’ challenges and also to help us recognize the privileges many of us may experience; accessibility to education, economic certainty, privilege, and many others. Only through both lenses can we fully become an organization of equity.
We may falter, make mistakes, or never reach the pinnacle of success.
We will take decisive actions and make strategic decisions.
We welcome all participants and are humbled in our diversity.
*** Everyone is a ‘participant’ no matter if they are receiving services or providing services. Receiving services encompasses either material items or empowerment. Providing services is the same. There is a motivating factor behind the word ‘participant’ and that includes the personal and situational dynamics of any interaction.
Our Staff
Jess Roncarati-Howe, Interim Executive Director
Jess Roncarati-Howe has dedicated her career to promoting dignity and quality of life in our community. This passion was developed through a lifetime of volunteer work inspired by her mother and grandparents. She has twenty years of experience in the nonprofit field focusing on program development, management, board governance, and how to lead mission-based organizations toward maximum community impact.
Jess earned her Bachelor’s degree in English and fine arts from Elms College. Here a great mentor convinced her that her place was in grassroots nonprofit, not comic book art. Her Master’s degree is from Bay Path University where he majored in nonprofit management and philanthropy with a certificate in fundraising.
Prior to DFSWM, where she was quickly promoted from Program Coordinator to Director of Programs and Operations, Jess served as President of the Greater Chicopee Chamber of Commerce and the inaugural Executive Director of the AIDS Foundation of Western Massachusetts. She has also served her community through a number of volunteer engagements including with the AIDS Foundation, Leadership Pioneer Valley, Hackworth School of Performing Arts, the Galaxy Community Council, the Bay Path University Alumni Association Council and many more. She is a member of the Business West 40 Under Forty Class of 2012 and the Leadership Pioneer Valley Class of 2017.
Jess lives in Wilbraham with her husband, Adam. They share three children: Shae, who made Jess a Dance Mom and is a dedicated DFSWM volunteer, and twins Jack and Quintin, who grow up much faster than she wants and are always an adventure.
Diane Jacobs
Volunteer Coordinator
Diane Marie Jacobs graduated from Bay Path University and was employed by MassMutual for eighteen years. She worked her way up to Associate Director responsible for planning and coordinating space usage in Springfield and Hartford facilities. She developed and maintained the overall facilities inventory and future facilities strategy, and organized moves to result in minimal disruption to workflow.
Diane then worked as the Summer Programs and Special Events Coordinator with Smith College where she oversaw summer programs and events for external clients. She was the liaison between College departments and program/event directors, coordinated facility space, met with prospective clients, provided cost projections, and developed contracts.
When health issues forced her out of this work, she turned to the auto body industry, working as an office manager for Brown’s Auto Body and Springfield Auto Body and Coatings. When those businesses closed, Diane joined the Springfield Community Senior Employment Program. She was working through their temp agency when she saw the open position for Volunteer Engagement Manager with Dress for Success of Western Massachusetts. Since taking on that role, she has also joined Women to Watch of Western Massachusetts.
Diane was taught to crochet by her mother, Earlean Caldwell, at the age of twelve. This became both a creative outlet and a small business. KaTiAd Creations, named for her three beautiful daughters, Kaine, Tiffany, and Adriann, emerged from Diane’s visits to boutiques looking for couture items but finding nothing in her size. Her talent and ability allowed her to look at any item and crochet it, and so she began creating one-of-a-kind couture for all body types. Her unique creations have led her to be called the “Crochet Queen.”
2024 – 2025 Board of Directors
President ~ Tracy Friedenberg
Executive Director, Bacon Wilson, P.C.
Vice President ~ Gina Drena
Vice President, Strategic Planning/Business Development – H2 Lean Consulting, LLC.
Treasurer ~ Deanna Rousseau
CPA: Financial Planning and Analysis Manager – Pratt & Whitney
Secretary ~ Laura Dennis
Vice President/West Region Regional Manager – Country Bank
Members
Chanel Duchaine – SPHR, SHRM-SCP: Human Resources Business Partner – Baystate
Health
Meaghan Murphy: Attorney – Skoler Abbott
Mydalis Vera: Owner – Guerrera Writer, LLC
Nicole Stevenson: Assistant Vice President/Consumer Loan Operations Manager –PeoplesBank
Shadia Coley: Branch Manager – Key Bank
Tatiana Cole: Academic Advisor Team Lead – University of Southern New Hampshire
Tamera Crenshaw – LPC, LMHC: Tools for Success Counseling, LLC
Our Advisory Board
Dr. Ann Errichetti
Former Chief Operations and Academic Officer, Presence Health
Jane Albert, Senior Vice President & Chief Consumer Officer at Baystate Health
Carol Campbell, President, Chicopee Industrial Contractors
Katherine Prewitt, CEO, Ascend Property Management
Christina Royal, Past President, Holyoke Community College
Erica True, Head of Strategic Planning for Insurance Operations at MassMutual
Dress for Success Worldwide Affiliation
Dress for Success Worldwide is an ever-expanding network of affiliates who work together with referral agencies, volunteers, and corporate partners around the world to make the greatest possible impact on women’s lives. We know that women supporting women is a powerful thing. And, by supporting each other, we can reach an ever greater number of women to make our vision a reality.
Dress for Success of Western Massachusetts is a proud affiliate of Dress for Success Worldwide – one of over 150 in 25 countries. However, we are a separately incorporated nonprofit. All donations of clothing and funds are used exclusively to support local women.
As an organization,
- We collectively believe that every woman has a right to realize her full potential and achieve financial independence in a more egalitarian world.
- We believe that, with the proper education, tools, and action, this world is possible.
- We believe that as poverty often affects women the most, addressing women’s needs is central to improving the quality of life for not only that woman but her family, her community, and future generations. It is also important for economic development and morally right.
- We believe that achieving gender equality is imperative to attaining a sustainable and just world for all.