In honor of Veterans Day, Kfir Gavrieli and the entire Tieks team have donated gently used work wear—culled from past photo shoots as well as team members’ personal closets—to Operation Dress Code, a non-profit offering free, personalized shopping sprees to female veterans. Delivered at specially curated pop-up boutiques, Operation Dress Code offers new and gently used professional clothing—including shoes, purses, jewelry and accessories—at no cost, helping women who currently or formerly served in the U.S. Armed Forces successfully transition to civilian life.
For Gavrieli, an entrepreneur who has long been dedicated to philanthropy, Operation Dress Code’s mission to empower women directly aligns with his own pathways of support. After all, as the CEO of Tieks, a high-end ballet flat brand that helps women look and feel their best without sacrificing quality, comfort or style, Gavrieli has made it his life’s mission to help women succeed. And, since the transition from military to civilian life can often take a major toll on service women’s finances, this was a logical way in which to give them a hand up, not a hand out—another key element behind Gavrieli’s philanthropic philosophy.
A Foundation of Giving
Through the Gavrieli Foundation, the Tieks CEO is a major donor on Kiva, a micro-lending company that supports “women entrepreneurs, who we [Kiva] believe are key in the broader fight against global poverty.” The reason? Gavrieli explains, “Rather than providing material goods or cash to buy them, our contributions [which, to date, total more than $10,000,000 given to over 55,000 women entrepreneurs in more than 70 countries] empower women to start and grow their businesses. These businesses become reliable sources of income and create independence and opportunity for these women, their families, and their communities. We believe this approach to be the most comprehensive, sustainable, and scalable solution to global poverty.”
After all, he has said, “Supporting women and underserved communities is at the core of Tieks’ ethos.” And, to make that happen, Gavrieli has gone beyond his support of Kiva, leveraging the power of fashion and female camaraderie to support women in multiple ways, both at home and abroad. Here’s how.
Pivoting to the Homefront
The bulk of Gavrieli’s and Tieks’ giving efforts have typically been focused on making a difference overseas. They’ve supported female entrepreneurs via Kiva and raised over $87,000 for war-affected Ukrainians. More recently, Tieks expanded its attention to needs in the US, supporting front line workers during the COVID pandemic with protective gear and Tieks gift cards in a show of appreciation.
Seeing the impact such efforts could make in communities closer to home, Gavrieli once again expanded the reach of his giving, saying, “Tieks recently invested in a number of grassroots grant initiatives across the US that empower women and girls in various fields from coding to dance to business.” He expresses, “I’m extremely proud that we’ve been able to help support young girls attending summer intensive ballet camps, provide literacy grants for business curriculum and leadership coaching workshops, and support the funding of equipment and supplies for a coding summer camp, all of which help women and girls of color.” In this way, Gavrieli has taken the power of Tieks to a whole new level, proving his stated point that, “When all people are given the same opportunity, everyone wins, and Tieks is committed to supporting causes that promote these values.”
