JFP Person of the Day: Pat Chambliss

Courtesy Pat Chambliss

Pat Chambliss is the executive director of Dress for Success Jackson.

by Nedah Nemati
November 17, 2009

Pat Chambliss, 52, is the volunteer executive director and one of the founding members of Dress for Success in Jackson. A national organization started in 1997 in New York, the organization's goal is to provide "suits to self sufficiency," Chambliss says.

The Greenville native graduated from Mississippi State University in 1980 with a business management degree, and she moved to Jackson the following year. Wanting to help other women, in 2002 Chambliss and few of her friends discovered Dress for Success.

"We not only provide you with a suit, but we follow you all the way through so that you can be a success, which in turn, can make your family a success," Chambliss says.

Dress for Success helps disadvantaged women—those who have experienced domestic violence, homelessness or other disabling circumstances—transition back into the work force. With the help of individual donors and women's clothing stores—Catherine's locally and Dress Barn and Ashley Stewart nationally—the nonprofit provides business attire to women in need. Michele Austin, proprietor of vintage and gently used clothing retailer Repeat Street in Ridgeland, is on the Dress for Success board, and she sells any clothing overflow in her shop, giving the proceeds to the organization.

Dress for Success does more than help women dress appropriately for interviews and the working world; it also teaches them computer skills, helps write resumes, and even trains them through mock interviews. The outcome, Chambliss says, is that the organization gives back to the community.

"I think of it not only in terms of helping the woman, but also in terms of helping the family, because if she's a whole person, she'll work to have a whole family," Chambliss says. "The result is better children and a better community."

Chambliss also has a full-time job as a technical analyst with the Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company. When she's not doing that job, she's working with women. In her scant free time, Chambliss loves to read, and occasionally she blogs about the women she encounters through Dress for Success. She also works diligently to get the word out and find additional corporate and individual donors.

"What we are doing is helping women to get back in the work force and change their destinies," she says.

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