As we look forward to 2025, we are excited to announce the launch of a new iteration for our Professional Women’s Group (PWG) cohort program. Now a 6-month offering, it comes with a new name: the Working Women’s Group (WWG).
PWG has been a fixture in the Dress for Success Vancouver community for over 20 years, supporting working women with their personal and professional goals to advance their careers, find financial stability, and establish greater personal well-being.
Over this time, the program has adapted and changed to better support the hundreds of women who have joined PWG. In 2019, we moved from an 18-month model to a 12-month model, with cohorts offered separately to standardize the flow of the program curriculum. During the pandemic, we moved to provide PWG as a virtual program, allowing women living farther away, parents without childcare, and anyone with health limitations to join. We also introduced a one-on-one mentorship model so members could receive deeper support and connection with mentors.
In January 2025, we are debuting a new cohort structure with some other new changes to further eliminate barriers and deepen impacts for participants while balancing our organizational capacity to run this program.
- Shorter cohorts with more intentional sessions: Acknowledging that members live extremely busy lives, we have shortened the cohort length from 12 months to 6 months. By offering 6 group sessions instead of 12, we have intentionally crafted a session-by-session curriculum with higher focus on actioning goals, personal and soft-skill development, and navigating our external contexts.
- Flexible program offerings: We are taking some niche workshop sessions, such as financial literacy, for example, and the mentorship program to make them optional offerings for participants. Many members are already industry experts in particular subjects and we acknowledge that the value of these sessions may not serve these members compared to other topics. We also don’t want to force participation in the mentorship program if members truly believe it wouldn’t hold value for them.
- ‘Working Women’s Group’: Like other Dress for Success affiliates, we have found the “professional woman” brand isn’t landing with potential members so we are embracing a more inclusive name to better communicate that we are a group for all working women, regardless of industry, career level, age or background.
We are looking forward to this new chapter for our PWG/WWG community and continue to meet women where they are at while supporting personal and professional growth, community-building, and, ultimately, success for some of the most brilliant, compassionate, and persevering women of the Lower Mainland.
Thank you for your interest in the Working Women’s Group (WWG) and for your ongoing support of Dress for Success Vancouver.
Sydney Budgeon
Director, Programs & Client Impact
If you are interested in applying, please visit our WWG webpage
If you’re interested in supporting this incredible program, please reach out to me directly at
sydney@dfsvancouver.org
