Meet a ChangeMaker

Meet Amy

Amy is a Career Development Manager. She Leads Select Service programming, connects with community partners interested in our workforce readiness workshops and wardrobing services.

Learn more about Amy

have you been with Working Wardrobes?

5 Months

What inspired you to join Working Wardrobes?

The mission and impact Working Wardrobes has in the community inspired me to want to join.

What do you enjoy most about your work here?

I love working with passionate individuals and being able to create real impact in the community to help those experiencing barriers reach gainful employment.

Describe a memorable moment or project you’ve been part of at Working Wardrobes.

I was able to create a new relationship with our MOU partner, Garden Grove Unified School District, which allowed us to serve 40 students in two of their high schools go through our Workforce readiness workshop series and wardrobing. It was great to see first-hand how our programming helped these young adults prepare for their future and to see their confidence flourish.

What’s a fun fact about you that most people don’t know?

I am a ceramic artist; I've been doing ceramics on and off for about 13 years and for the past 3 years have really made it a consistency in my life.

What are you most excited about for the future of Working Wardrobes?

Continuing to serve the diverse community of folks that makes up our clients motivates me to ensure the highest quality of service, as well as building thoughtful relationships with the community truly excites me.

Meet Marcella

Marcella is our Special Project Manager. She leads and manages the implementation of special projects/initiatives as a supportive member of the development team.

Learn more about Marcella

How long have you been with Working Wardrobes?

Since August 2024.

What inspired you to join Working Wardrobes?

I was Inspired by the wrap around service that Working Wardrobes provides and the care in which we provide a hand up to clients. The awareness that not every journey is identical and helping people overcome barriers with dignity.

What do you enjoy most about your work here?

The privilege it is to witness a client transformation from start to finish, the joy of being surrounded by like-minded team members, and the contribution I make to a ripple effect of impact.

Describe a memorable moment or project you’ve been part of at Working Wardrobes.

A little bit after I started, we created and launched a Career Exploration platform dedicated to helping clients survey career paths and grants them access to what a potential “day in the life” could look like for them. It’s a resource that bridges a possibility to a reality and only possible because of the insights shared by community professionals.

What’s a fun fact about you that most people don’t know?

I was a background actor for most of college and got to watch the production behind big network shows.

What are you most excited about for the future of Working Wardrobes?

It’s a parallel experience to be part of an organization that creates a transformative environment for clients because we are also evolving and exceeding what we thought possible. I’m excited to see how we’ll grow and where our reach will be in the next 5…10…35 years.

Meet Becca

Becca is a Career Navigator who works with clients to help them chart a course to achieve their professional goals, and connects them to every tool and resource at her disposal that they can use to help them along on their career path.

Learn more about Becca

How long have you been with Working Wardrobes?

Since July of 2024

What inspired you to join Working Wardrobes?

I only find my own professional path fulfilling when I am helping make the world a better place. Working Wardrobes offered me an opportunity to do just that, but in a new and exciting way for me. In my quest to leave the world better than I found it, I have had the honor of serving a variety of individuals including veterans, teen moms, individuals with disabilities, and children. Working Wardrobes gave me an opportunity to work with a new type of client, individuals who have been previously incarcerated. Some may be intimidated by this, but the opportunity excited me. I am all about second chances, evolution, and starting over at any age in life, so working with this population was right up my alley.

What do you enjoy most about your work here?

Sparking hope in the hopeless. Individuals come to us desperate and low on inspiration, struggling to survive and usually incapable of comprehending what thriving might look like. At Working Wardrobes, I get to offer these individuals a chance to dream with some tangible support to help them take action to pursue those dreams. This makes the job worth doing for me.

Describe a memorable moment or project you’ve been part of at Working Wardrobes.

During our intake process, we ask new clients to make a vision board. Most of them look at me like a “deer in headlights” at the suggestion. Vision?? When you’re focused on surviving day-to-day, it’s hard to have a vision of the future, let alone one full of hope and aspiration. So, my favorite part is asking them to escape that survival mentality for a moment and use their imaginations to envision what happiness and peace look like, and then put that on their vision board. I even give them markers to help that vision come to life. That exercise alone changes their whole face! That’s the kind of change I love to make!

What’s a fun fact about you that most people don’t know?

I am also a lifelong musician. I enjoy recording, writing, singing, and playing instruments, and I even used to teach private lessons!

What are you most excited about for the future of Working Wardrobes?

We have some upcoming potential opportunities to work in partnership with some of our community partners to provide a broader range or services to our clients, and that excites me quite a bit! Any way that we can expand the support that we give to clients is exciting to me.