College of Business Administration

GROUP MEMBERS:

Brian Lathrope
Eric Rydeen
Josh Lander
Nick Thomas

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

For our social change project, we decided to collect professional attire for underprivileged and abused woman. Our hope was to provide women with the clothing needed to obtain jobs and careers in today’s society.

At first we were looking into doing a clothing drive, thinking of the Holiday season and upcoming winter months. Though a clothing drive can be very beneficial, this time of year often consists of many charitable donations of “everyday” attire. We decided to move to a more specific plan in regards to the type of clothing that should be collected, and how much impact it could have on society. Instead of collecting all types of clothing, we focused solely on professional attire. Keeping a utilitarian view in mind, we thought more good would come from helping people to get jobs than simply providing clothes for those in need. The project would not only help find clothing for those who need it, but it would also help people to find jobs. A person with a job would be able to provide for themselves and their family, allowing for greater good for a greater number of people.

Taking further ethical frameworks into consideration, we wanted to make sure that all people have an equal opportunity in today’s labor force. Although there is a common belief today that all people should have the same chance to find work, this isn’t always the case. The ethical framework of justice states that all persons should be treated equally, each receiving their fair due. As a group we felt that women are not always given this fair chance, especially women who have been abused or emotionally scarred. In an effort to give this particular group an equal chance to find work, our group decided to collect professional attire solely for these women.

To accomplish our project, we first needed to find organizations to donate the clothing. We targeted business’s that have dress codes that require semi-professional to highly-professional attire. We went around to several institutions around San Diego and solicited their assistance with our project. In the end we decided it would be easier to organize and accomplish goals with companies that we had direct ties to. We chose Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, where Josh is currently employed. The other organization we chose to utilize was Eissler Elementary School, where Nick’s mother teaches. Using these places allowed us the most flexibility with pick up times, variety of attire, and a chance to develop a lasting relationship between them and the beneficiary.

Though finding organizations to donate was a pretty easy task, finding beneficiaries to accept the donations was a much more daunting task. Women’s shelters are generally not accessible to the public, making it difficult to get in contact with them. We called the police department to get a list of women groups that might be interested, but it was nearly impossible to find one that was willing to work with us. Instead of private women’s groups, we went with a more publicly known organization. The Young Women’s Christian Association, better known as the YWCA, was the group that we chose to be our beneficiary. Contacting the YWCA, we found that they had their own donations department, and a separate supervisor heading up contributions. Having a single contact with the beneficiary made it very easy to coordinate our activities with them.

The final ethical framework that relates to our project was the Social Contract Theory. The theory states that we as a society all agree to follow rules that are in our best interests and implies that we have a social responsibility to each other. We felt as a group that we had a moral obligation to help those who do not have the same chances as others.

Overall our project wasn’t a complete success, but we accomplished many of the goals that we initially set. We easily surpassed our target of fifty articles of clothing, collecting over one hundred pieces of professional attire. We do not believe our long term goal of having the companies work together will be very successful. The project was very complex, time consuming, and would be very difficult to complete without a liaison between the two. It is our hope that the organizations work together in the future for similar endeavors, but we do not think this is a very realistic possibility.