Over the years, prom has become an eye-catching spectacle online, with people paying hundreds and thousands of dollars for outfits, transportation, and accessories. That’s where the BKLYN Prom Project comes in. The nonprofit organization run by chapter directors Dawn Simon and Dr. Shaniqua Schloss provides free dresses, tuxedos, suits, and accessories to high school seniors. While the organization started in Brooklyn, the chapter directors plan to expand their resources to help students in Long Island and across New York City. Their goals is to help high school seniors shine on their special night and feel stylish while doing it.
Here’s our full interview with the founders of the BKLYN Prom Project:
ParleNY: We love what you’re doing with BKLYN Prom Project, but before we get into the work, please introduce yourselves, tell me about your own stories growing up and going to high school.
Dr. Shaniqua Schloss: I am originally from Brooklyn, reside in Queens now, but I’m still a Brooklynite. Born to Jamaican parents. I went to high school in Sheepshead Bay High School in Brooklyn. High school was pretty good. My mom was a single mom at that time. I had to get a job to do anything senior-related, so I didn’t get to go on senior trip, but got to go to prom, I had to get a job to pay for my prom dress, hair, makeup, anything cuz my mom was not into that, and if I wanted to do it, I had to do it on my own. I’m happy I did it. I worked at that job till I was 25, so it worked itself out for me.
Dawn Simon: I grew up in Brooklyn, born and bred. I went to a high school in Manhattan called the New York City School of Printing or Graphic Arts Communication. I graduated from there and went immediately into college at Howard University, where I graduated after four years with a Bachelor’s in Journalism. And unfortunately, I never had a prom experience. I don’t even remember why I didn’t go to prom. I don’t think our class had one at the time. But, you know, living vicariously through BKLYN Prom Project gives me a lot of joy because I’m able to see how kids really respond to prom and how they get their dresses, their tuxedos, and everything, so they could be ready. And I currently work as a senior marketing manager in a real estate industry, where I oversee malls with marketing and events, and public relations, and that sort of thing.
Watch the full interview here:
ParleNY: High school was a while ago, what have the two of you been up to personally and professionally since then?
Dr. Shaniqua Schloss: So after I finished Sheepshead Bay in 2006, I went to SUNY Old Westbury, graduated in 2010. I took a year off and worked at Harlem Children’s Zone as a youth counselor, I believe was the title. And then I went back to grad school in 2011. I got my Master’s in social work. I graduated in 2013. I became a case planner, and then I started working in school. So now I’m currently a school social worker. I work for District 79. I work in a juvenile detention center. The school is called Passages Academy. It’s in Brooklyn. And then I got my doctorate in 2024. Personally, I have a travel agency business. I have an event planning business. I spend a lot of time with my nine godkids, niece, and nephew, family. I don’t really have a personal life. All I do is work.
Dawn Simon: Wow, it seems like so long ago since I graduated high school, it’s kind of hard to remember, working a lot, you know, creating events and promotions that resonate within the community as a marketing manager. Started my own marketing business a little while ago. And just spending time with family and friends and just going to church and enjoying, you know, my church family and the environment and just looking for opportunities to work in the community to help expand our resources, not only with BKLYN Prom Project, but just meeting needs of those in the community who we can help, you know, build up and make better.
ParleNY: How did the two of you first connect?
Dr. Shaniqua Schloss: So 14 years ago… originally the organization we’re with, Prom National Network, was called Operation Prom. So we attended Operation Prom Queens. I went for the job that I was working at afterprom.com to promote After Prom Parties. And Dawn went, I believe for her job, she was working at Queens Center Mall. And we went separately, didn’t know each other. And we reached out to the CEO of the company after and just like, is there a Brooklyn chapter? We want to start a Brooklyn chapter. Since we both reached out, she was like, it makes no sense for there to be two Brooklyn chapters. Why don’t you guys meet each other? So I went to Queens Center Mall, met Dawn, and the rest is history. Two strangers became family. And here we are today.
Dawn Simon: Yes, it’s really a great story of sisterhood and community with how we met and the impact that we’re making in Brooklyn and beyond. Because even though we’re BKLYN Prom Project, we don’t just serve Brooklyn students. We serve all of New York City. And we like to pride ourselves on being like one of the biggest prom wear giveaways in New York City. It’s just a testament to us working together, the sisterhood that we built, and the sense of community that we spread throughout Brooklyn and beyond.
ParleNY: What’s it like working with someone you’re friends with, and have known for over 14 years? I know it’s often said that you shouldn’t mix business with friendships?
Dr. Shaniqua Schloss: It’s great. It is great. Dawn has definitely been a source of strength in my personal life, and it just makes us stronger professionally. I think because we started off as strangers, it works out better for us. But now it’s like, that’s my girl.
Dawn Simon: And you know, for me, it’s like we have each other’s back 100%. Like, if Shaniqua can’t come through, I got her. If I can’t come through, I got her. And it’s without any incident, without any feelings. It’s just like, okay, you don’t have this, I got you. And we always have each other’s back. And we can rely on each other 1,000 % for whatever we may be going through, whether it’s personally or professionally, or what we do with BKLYN Prom Project. I know that Shaniqua has me, and I have her.
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ParleNY: The idea for the BKLYN Prom Project is admirable, and it’s been 14 years now, but when did you decide that it was a viable business venture?
Dr. Shaniqua Schloss: Well, it’s not necessarily a business venture. It is a nonprofit. We do not make any money off of it. Anything that we do is volunteering our time. All the volunteers volunteer their time. We get donations, sponsorship, but we don’t collect a paycheck at all. But we knew it was a viable organization to continue once we saw the first event and the need that was there and the outpouring and the outreach. And then every year it just gets bigger and bigger and bigger. And the testimonies that we get after, the tears that we see at the event, the smiles, the happiness, you know, parents coming up to us, kids coming up to us, people reaching out in the community. So that’s how we knew that the need was still there. You know, sometimes people think prom is a luxury. So it’s not a need for folks, but it’s a luxury that every student should experience if they can. And we try to make it happen.
Dawn Simon: And I agree with Shaniqua. We didn’t start out as friends, but we grew into a friendship. And that friendship allows us to kind of operate like a business. Like we operate with the highest level of professionalism. We make sure that we respond to emails when they come. We respond to DMs. And our response time is pretty unmatched. Like we’d like to get back to people within 24 to 48 hours of them reaching out to us. So we volunteer. And this is something that we do without a paycheck. As Shaniqua said, we don’t get any money from it. It’s a labor of love. We do it because we love what we do. We pour into the community. We know that there’s a need for students to have access to prom wear because the cost of prom is just so, so ridiculously high. And we’re always on. Like, even though we have our giveaway and you kind of see it from the outside looking in being over, it’s not over for us because we’re still collecting items. We’re still responding to emails. We’re still meeting with people. So it’s just volunteerism on a thousand. And not to mention, we donate to other organizations. We donate within our chapter, prom wear that we may have left over. And we’re always getting requests, no matter how much we promote our promwear giveaway and the date that it’s happening. Every single year, we get emails from people saying they missed it. Can we help them? Can we support it? This is after everything is packed away deep, deep, deep, into storage. After we have exhausted almost everything that we had coordinating a prom wear giveaway, we still find a way to help people after our event is over.
ParleNY: What does prom mean to you, and why did you want it to be at the heart and center of your mission?
Dr. Shaniqua Schloss: So, for me, well, when I was in school and what I think about it now, I feel like prom is that end of a chapter celebration, and everybody deserves to celebrate that hard work. High school was a time for me, you know, good and bad. And I felt like, although my mother was not into that type of thing that I deserved after four years in Sheepshead Bay High School. in surviving that, I deserved a party in a sense. So I feel like prom is that celebration that ends in one chapter, starting a new chapter, whether it’s college, vocational school, whether it’s going to the job market. I just think that everyone, well, I love a party, I’m a event planner, and I just love parties, but I believe everybody deserves a party to just celebrate, and get dressed up. Everyone loves getting dressed up, and it’s a fun celebration. If you can and want to, not everyone wants to go to prom, but if you want to and you can, I think everyone deserves that opportunity.
Dawn Simon: I agree. I think it’s a rite of passage. I think it’s an end of one era and the beginning of a new one. And every student deserves to have a prom or attend a prom, whether they want to go or not. I didn’t have that opportunity. And I have to call a couple of girlfriends to find out why we didn’t have prom. I just know we didn’t. I don’t know why we didn’t, but I just know that we didn’t. But I just think that it’s such a great celebratory event that students should participate in because, as Dr. Schloss said, it’s the marking of one era. Like you worked so hard for four years in high school, and you’re about to go on to the next, whether that’s college or working or wherever you go. And this should be like one memorable celebration that you have just to indicate everything that you’ve been through and to showcase what’s ahead.
ParleNY: You’ve created several partnerships over the years, talk to me about how some of them have come about. Which ones are you most proud of?
Dr. Shaniqua Schloss: I mean, I would say we’re proud of all of them. That world is more Dawn’s world, because Dawn is amazing at what she does when she makes those connections. She can sell BKLYN Prom Project with her eyes closed. She has that tack from her professional job that gets us so many support.
Dawn Simon: I think that every partnership that we have is extremely valuable. You know, I don’t want to minimize one over the other. I think a lot of it is based on relationships, right? And how going back to what I said earlier about how we run this operation as a business and how professional, we are with everyone that we encounter. For example, you know, people look at our page on Instagram, which is @BrooklynPromProject, and they see us pouring into students, and they see how lively and festive our events are. And sometimes, you know, that’s carried on to other events, which is great. But I think that people see that and they are compelled and they are attracted to us and they want to be a part of the organization. We have volunteers that have been with us for 14 years, you know, and they’re loyal, and we can always count on them. We have our elected official partners who see our event for the first time, and then they don’t leave us, and they help us build on partnerships. We were in Barclays Center this year, which was huge and that was based on relationships that we have with people in the community, you know, people have emailed us after our giveaway, you know, a major hotel in Manhattan wanting to do a collection for us, and a major TV show wanting to do a collection for us. So we’re just really, really deeply appreciative of all the partners that we have, and no one is bigger than the other because we value our partners just the same.
ParleNY: You’re also a member of the Prom National Network. How has that supported your mission?
Dr. Shaniqua Schloss: So yeah, so that has been our, let’s say, parent company or parent organization since the start of time. It was originally Operation Prom. So we all were Operation Prom in whatever your area is. And then they changed it over to Prom National Network. They have been such a support, you know, a foundation for us where we started, they’ve helped us grow. Yeah, we can always lean on the CEO Noel, and the board of directors as needed to support us and kind of just have our back. If we need to tap into them, we do. We do a lot of the groundwork on our own, but when we do need their support, and we do need to tap into them, they are always there to support us.
Dawn Simon: I would agree. I think that being a part of a network just allows us to support other networks that are doing giveaways and to have them support us as well.
ParleNY: What is the most rewarding part of the BKLYN Prom Project?
Dr. Shaniqua Schloss: So we do something at our event where when students decide on their prom wear, whether it’s a tuxedo or a dress or a suit, they have to say yes to the dress, say yes to the tuxedo, and they walk the red carpet. And I think seeing, and we celebrate them, everyone stops what they do. We have bells, we have whistles, we cheer. It’s like a whole celebration. So I guess when you see like the wedding shows, and they say yes to the dress, it’s pretty much that concept. And seeing the young people’s faces, they like walk all shy, but then they see the energy from us. And then all of a sudden, you have Tyra Banks walking down the red carpet, and it’s just like, okay, where did that come from? You know, and just seeing how excited they are, strutting their stuff, they’re picking out accessories, that finished product. Of course, we don’t really see the finished finished product because the hair and makeup, and all that stuff. But seeing that part and seeing how proud of themselves they are, because you know, we think about it, you hear “free,” and people may be ashamed to come and get a free dress for prom. There might be someone in their school that spends thousands of dollars on their prom dress, and here you come with this free prom dress. So to just see their excitement and the way we make the event, like you don’t know, you don’t know that they’re not cashing out at the end of the event. We make it such an experience that they don’t feel like, I just got a free. They’re like, I got this dress. It doesn’t care. It doesn’t matter that it’s free. So just seeing that excitement and the parent’s crying, and it’s a beautiful thing to just see them walk out that door after that final checkout point. Like, yeah, they’re ready for prom. We did that. It’s a good feeling.
Dawn Simon: And they don’t only get a dress, they get shoes, they get makeup, they get nails, they get tuxedos, they get shirts, they get accessories, they get bow ties, they get ties, they get shoes. Like we run the whole gamut. And that is because, and it’s so important to mention this, because of the donations of people in the community. We could not do it without that support. I mean, people are always hitting us up, saying, where can I donate? How can I donate? And we’re so responsive, and we’re so grateful for that. So it’s really the, for me, would be everything Shaniqua said, but to add onto that, it would be the donations. It would be us making sure that before we even open the doors, our volunteers understand through our huddle that every student who walks through the doors has to be treated with love, has to be made special. We don’t know their story. So we want to make sure that we remove any stigmas of them coming for free. Anything. We just want them to feel loved and poured into and just appreciated and accepted. And that resonates throughout all of our volunteers. I mean, one of the things about our event is that the line to try on dresses and tuxedos are usually long. And that is because the head of our volunteers, she makes sure that she takes as much time as she possibly can with each student. So, yeah. That’s what we love.
ParleNY: Any stories stick out from over the years that have helped keep you motivated and inspired to continue the work?
Dr. Shaniqua Schloss: So many. So there’s always two that stand out. So, one parent, so we do a gift wrapping fundraiser every December in Kings Plaza Mall where we wrap gifts for presents and items for customers in the mall, and they donate to the organization. And one year, someone came back and volunteered with us, two people actually. It was a former student that got a dress. She came back and volunteered with us. And then a parent came back, and we didn’t realize who she was at first. And then she explained her story, and then she forced her son, who came down for winter break, to come and say hi to us. And he showed us his prom wear. And it was just such a full circle moment to see that we gave back to them, and Mom came and gave back with us, you know, and volunteered her time as a gift wrapper because we gave to her son his senior year. Now, I think at that time, he was a freshman or maybe a sophomore in college at that point. And he came back to just say, thank you. And that was such a beautiful thing.
And then we had a young lady who came from the Bronx, and she was a plus-size young lady, and she wanted a red dress, and she was not stopping until she got a red dress, and we couldn’t find her red dress, and we felt so bad. So one of our volunteers, our faithful volunteer who actually is a friend of mine from college, she had just started her business of making dresses, and she made her prom dress, her red prom dress, for her free of charge. You know, we connected them, and that’s what we do. We go above and beyond. We can’t do that every time, but you know, at that time, we didn’t have a lot of plus-size dresses. So we knew we were limited, and she was not budging. She did not care what we tried to sell her, not sell her, but try to promote her into a different dress, like, oh, this black one looks good, this blue one. So, we were like, you know what? We’re gonna make sure you go to prom, and our volunteer made her prom dress for her. So it was just little things like that that just makes us… and she was so appreciative. And those are the moments when it’s just like, yeah, we can’t stop what we’re doing. We get tired, but it’s like, we can’t stop what we’re doing. We can’t.
Dawn Simon: There was a time when there was a homeless gentleman. He was living in a shelter, and he was plus-size as well. And he wasn’t able to fit any of the items we had at our giveaway. So Shaniqua and I went to Men’s Warehouse and donated a suit for him out of our pocket, you know, so that was something special. And then for me, it was, I think it was last year or the year before, where there was a young lady on the runway on the red carpet, and her mother was sobbing hysterically when she saw her like walk down. She went over to her mother, and she just like took her hands and she dried the tears from her face. And I said to the mom, you know, like, you must be so proud. And she said she has autism, and you have no idea what we’ve been through to get to this moment. And for me, that was just like one of the most tenderest moments that I’ve experienced there. There’s a lot that we don’t see, but the ones that we are able to capture, they just make us stop and go wow you know this is all for the purpose, this is all for a good purpose.
ParleNY: Prom season is once a year for the most part, what are you working on between seasons?
Dr. Shaniqua Schloss: Sleep? No. So we’re always, although it’s one season, we’re always working on prom. You know, we’re always outreaching to different companies, organizations, sponsors, we’re always trying to get funding because, you know, there are times where we do come out of pocket, and there are times that we can’t come out of pocket. So we’re always looking, we’re always working on the next year. Whether it’s a venue, whether it’s sponsorship, whether it’s getting, you know, we meet with our committee and some of the volunteers that are dedicated, and we plan for next year, okay, what didn’t work this year, what worked, and what do we need to do again? And then we build out from that. So we know some things that we’ve noticed from this year that we’re already making outreach and plans for next year. We do have some fundraiser ideas that we wanna implement throughout the year as well, but prom is our baby. Prom is a full year baby. Although it is just one season, it is very much May, June, but for us it’s 12 months. Because we always got to get bigger and better.
Dawn Simon: Yeah, so behind the scenes, when prom season isn’t happening, we are still building on what we’re doing for the next year. And next year, God willing, will be our 15th. It’ll be our 15th annual prom wear giveaway. And it’s a milestone year, so we want to make it special. So if there’s anyone who wants to partner with us, brands that make sense, you know, we want to build relationships. We want to build partnerships. We want to build our fundraising component because, as of now, Kings Plaza is our main fundraiser, and we’re so grateful for that relationship. But we want to be able to just expand so that we can make year 15 even bigger and better than any of the prom wear giveaways we’ve ever had.
ParleNY: What’s next for BKLYN Prom Project? What’s the future look like for the organization?
Dr. Shaniqua Schloss: Bigger and better. Bigger and better. I think, you know, we’re always striving. Every year, we strive to serve more students. So, you know, we did about a thousand this year. We’re trying to do more than that next year. We’re trying to expand on our sponsorships, trying to expand on donations from companies. We depend a lot on the community. And in the start, we had a lot of companies that used to donate to us, and that kind of has slowed down. So that’s really what our focus is on, trying to get back companies to support us. Yeah, we just, we just want to grow bigger. And so whoever’s out there that wants to support. Yeah.
Dawn Simon: Glowing and growing, to use a term that Dr. Schloss uses, glowing and growing. We just want to make sure that we are touching even more students in the community and that we’re building more partnerships with other organizations, and that our visibility is heightened. I mean, we had so much great press based on being at Barclays Center. Their PR team, their comms team is amazing. But we’re just looking for more. We’re looking for more growth, more opportunity, more partnerships, more fundraising. We’re just looking for more because the more we get, the more students we can help.
ParleNY: Anything you all are excited about individually as professionals?
Dr. Shaniqua Schloss: Well, now that I have my doctorate, I’m hoping in the between time of BKLYN Prom Project to start my own private practice. I work in a private practice. So I would like to start my own private practice and do a lot more speaking engagements in the social work world and in mental health. So I’m looking forward to that. I have some events, as I say, I like planning stuff, I like parties. So I have some events tailored towards mental health that I would like to execute in the upcoming year. So that’s pretty much my professional goals that I’m looking forward to in the next few years.
Dawn Simon: For me, it would be just continuing to create programs and opportunities that impact the community. Like I love ideating. I love like putting things together. So it’s really finding out what the needs are in the community and partnering with different organizations or elected officials to see how those needs can be met.
ParleNY: Anything I left out that you would like to share?
Dr. Shaniqua Schloss: I think we touched on pretty much everything, just the emphasis on we thrive off the community. So just the community support, and just know that although we are Brooklyn, we do not just serve Brooklyn. We are all five boroughs and beyond. We do Long Island. We actually had a student who was homeless, actually from Jersey, that we supported. He came from a Jersey shelter. So we support all over. So, you know, as folks hear about us and want to support and believe in this mission, just know that our outreach is beyond Brooklyn and that we thrive off of community. We thrive off of volunteers. We thrive off of donations. This is a labor of love. And we need the support in order for us to get bigger and better. I know I had a friend from high school reach out to me like ‘every year, I just watch, and I just see you guys getting bigger and bigger and bigger.’ I’m like, oh, thank you. But it is true. We do get bigger and bigger, but we only do it because of the community support, because of those that are around us. Dawn and I are just the face of it, but it’s everyone’s work that gets us there. So anyone that wants to support us, please reach out because we accept all support.
Dawn Simon: I would echo that, especially as we approach year 15, our 15th anniversary next year, we are open to partnerships. We are open to building our volunteer base, expanding our outreach to high schools. Like, we literally go through the high school directory and try to contact students in schools to be a part of the event. So we just really want to continue to grow, and with these partnerships in the community, with our, you know, even fundraising opportunities. Like we said, we don’t collect anything, and we only have one major fundraiser. So, in addition to the community providing donations of formal wear and accessories, we are also open to monetary donations as well, because every single penny that we receive goes back into the organization. We don’t accept any money anywhere else. It goes into providing our volunteers with food at the event and giveaways for the kids. Everything that you can think of in order to make the event successful. So partnerships are important, volunteers are important, as well as getting more students to be a part of this organization of fundraising. Those would be my four things.
In 2027, BKLYN Prom Project will be having their 15th annual giveaway. Stay tuned. If you want to get involved, volunteer and/or donate new/gently used formal attire, you can find out more at BKLYN Prom Project’s website.
