Country of Residence
United States
Age
16
Project title
Reignite Resumes & Career Empowerment Services
Project Summary: Describe your project in one sentence
Reignite Resumes is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization I founded in early 2025 that offers custom resumes, cover letters, and job search services 100% free of charge to domestic violence survivors and other underserved populations, including formerly trafficked individuals, single mothers, and the homeless.
Website URL(s) or social media handles.
https://www.reigniteresumes.org/ https://www.instagram.com/reigniteresumes/ https://linktr.ee/reigniteresumes
Project Category
My project is an existing project that I started
Project Stage
Scaling (We’re expanding impact to new locations or in new and innovative ways)
Founding Story: What was the spark that led you to start your project? What was the "Aha!" moment that led you to get started and see the potential for this to succeed?
My “Aha!” moment actually started with one question I asked years ago: "Why don't domestic violence victims leave?" I asked that question after finding out that domestic violence (DV) had occurred a few generations back in my own family. After researching the issue and speaking with experts, I found out that the answer largely came down to economics, since roughly 75% of DV victims, who are disproportionately women, stay with their abusers, or return to them, because of economic insecurity. But when survivors are able to secure better jobs and economic outcomes, they have greater odds of escaping abuse over the long term. I also learned that there was a critical gap in the career services available to DV survivors and other underserved populations. After discovering this, I tried to figure out how I could help, and that eventually led me to found Reignite Resumes. Through this organization, my mission is to help provide the career services and support needed to help empower people to achieve financial independence, economic stability, and lasting safety.
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve? Why does it matter to you and your community?
Domestic violence impacts millions of people every year. Nearly 1 in 2 women and 1 in 4 men in the United States will face physical violence at the hands of an intimate partner during their lifetime. As a society, the lifetime economic cost associated with DV is an estimated $3.6 trillion. According to the WHO, roughly 1 in 3 women globally have been subjected to physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. Research has found that contributing factors include gender inequality, harmful gender norms that promote male entitlement and control, and economic disparities. Research has also shown that a lack of employment, financial instability, and economic dependence are strong risk factors for staying in or returning to an abusive relationship. This is something that matters deeply to me and to the community, and through Reignite Resumes, this is the problem we’re trying to solve. It is my hope that through our services, we can help to empower survivors financially, as well as support other underserved populations in need of career support.
Your Solution: How are you solving this problem? Share your specific solution.
We are helping to address the problems of domestic violence and financial abuse by supporting the economic empowerment of DV survivors and other underserved populations. Here’s how our services work: Clients find us through partner events, word of mouth, or marketing, then we work with them to assess their career goals and skills. The services we provide follow a basic four-step process. First, we meet with clients to understand their career goals, their skills and experience, and their circumstances. We use that information to fill out intake forms. Second, we create the resume, the cover letter, and the job search list. As part of founding the organization, I studied resume writing under the PARWCC (Professional Association for Resume Writers and Career Coaches) so I would have the skills needed to create resumes and cover letters that would help our clients be successful. Third, the client applies for jobs, using the custom resume, cover letter, and job search list we have provided. Finally, they provide feedback and fill out a satisfaction survey, which we use to measure impact and identify growth opportunities. Also, the client relationship doesn’t end there. We will continually provide support, including mock interview sessions, throughout the job application process as needed.
Impact: How has your project created impact / made a difference so far? Or, if at an early stage, what will impact look like?
A year and a half after founding Reignite Resumes, we have served 125+ clients across the U.S., held 10 in-person empowerment events, secured 5 partnerships with other NPOs, and recruited an international youth leadership team of 14 members. Our youth leadership team and our volunteers represent 15 countries and 12 U.S. states. We have gained more than 3,200 social media followers and over 300,000 digital impressions. In addition to the numbers, I am proud of the fact that we’re getting positive feedback from clients. One of our clients recently said: “Thank you for all the time, effort, and support you put into creating my resume, cover letter, and the job opportunities you shared with me. I know my resume will be a huge help when I begin applying for Medical Assistant positions.” Another client wrote in a Google review: “They were professional, supportive, patient, and genuinely cared about helping me succeed. They helped me improve my resume and prepare for my job search, and I always felt comfortable asking questions and requesting guidance.”
Your Innovation: What is different about your project compared to other programs or solutions already out there? How is your project new or innovative?
Reignite Resumes is filling a critical gap in the career services available to DV survivors and other underserved populations, so we are uniquely positioned in the market. Most DV organizations do not have the resources to provide this type of customized resume-writing service, while the for-profit career coaching companies charge hefty fees that most survivors simply cannot afford. This makes other NPOs eager to work with us, as we can supplement the services they’re already providing to their clients with a specialty that they do not have and cannot easily access. Other ways that we are different and innovative include our approach to maintaining confidentially. Given the nature of DV, it was important that clients knew they could work with us without risking the exposure of their identities to their abusers. So to ensure confidentiality, we enable clients to work with us without ever sharing their full names and addresses. Because we are a 100% free service, information such as name and address are not mandatory, and we can create all of the career materials they need with just a first name and last initial, or even with two initials. We have now made this confidentiality option part of the standard intake process when we work with clients.
How many people are on your team?
48
Your team: What role(s) do your team members play? How do you share leadership with them?
We have 3 board members, 14 youth leaders, and 31 volunteers. Leadership is collaborative. We use tools like Slack to communicate, and everyone brings a unique perspective. Each leader heads up a workstream, such as blog writing or technology, based on their strengths and interests. Being youth-led, we empower young leaders with opportunities to engage in meaningful social change. Because teen dating violence rates are high, creating awareness about DV now can also help to ensure future safety.
What’s Next: What are the next steps you plan to take to grow or strengthen your project over the next year? If your project is still in the idea stage, describe the steps you will take over the next three months to launch or begin developing it.
Over the next year, I want to increase our impact from serving hundreds of clients to empowering thousands. I am currently exploring the use of AI technology to supplement our service model and increase our output, and I am also creating a trauma-informed financial education curriculum for survivors that can be downloaded for free. To further evolve and innovate our services, we have recently partnered with several resources that are enabling us to provide onsite Spanish-to-English interpretation at our empowerment events, as well as translation services for the materials we provide. Over the next year, I would like to expand our translation services to include other languages that we have received requests to support, such as Russian. Over the longer term, I want to expand Reignite Resumes to different countries, empowering young local leaders to establish chapters that deliver services in their own languages, tailored directly to the unique cultural and regional needs of their communities. Regardless the number of countries or clients, however, the vision will remain the same: providing career services support to create financial opportunity and inclusion.
How do you encourage other people to join your project or learn about the problem you’re working on? If you have a new idea, tell us how you will do this in the future.
Over the past year and a half, I have found that the more credibility we gain as an organization and the more positive feedback we get from clients and partners, the more others want to join our mission. We have also come up with ways for people to participate with Reignite Resumes that are flexible and work for them. For example, we regularly post writing opportunities on Idealist.org and Taproot that give writers a chance to contribute by creating a single blog post without having to sign up for a longer-term commitment. Once those volunteers see the impact of their work, however, they often sign up for more opportunities with us. In addition, we are very active on social media and on our blog, promoting awareness about DV, financial abuse, and economic empowerment. Our youth leadership team and volunteers do a great job of coming up with new ways to spread the word and engage people with stories that are meaningful and relevant to them. As a team, I think we have done a good job of explaining the “why” behind the work we’re doing. I am also grateful for the survivors, who have bravely shared their challenges, hopes, and dreams with us—ultimately, it is their stories that encourage and inspire us all.
