Inspiring Conversations with Ronna of Maria’s Closet

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ronna.

Hi Ronna, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Maria’s Closet began with a simple but powerful belief: every young woman deserves to feel beautiful, confident and truly seen—regardless of her circumstances.

What started as an effort to provide formal dresses to girls who might otherwise miss an important milestone has grown into something far greater than I ever imagined. With the support of an extraordinary board, dedicated volunteers, generous donors and community partners, Maria’s Closet has now helped more than 4,000 young women throughout Los Angeles County.

Each year, our signature Big Give transforms our San Pedro boutique into an unforgettable experience. We welcome students from 97 Title I schools, foster-care programs, Boys & Girls Clubs and other community organizations. The girls are paired with volunteers who help them select a beautiful gown and accessories, but what we give them goes far beyond an outfit. We want each young woman to leave knowing that she matters, that her dreams are important and that an entire community is cheering her on.

Our mission has continued to grow through mentorship, year-round appointments and our scholarship program. In 2026, we awarded 15 deserving young women a total of $20,000 in scholarships, along with laptops to help them begin the next chapter of their education. Watching these girls walk into a room feeling uncertain and leave standing taller, smiling and believing in themselves is the heart of everything we do.

Maria’s Closet has always been powered by love and community. Local businesses, beauty and fashion brands, schools, foster organizations, volunteers and individual donors have all stepped forward to help us serve more girls each year. I am incredibly proud of how far we have come, but I am even more excited about where we are going.

For me, this work has never been about dresses alone. It is about dignity, confidence and reminding young women that their circumstances do not determine their future. Every girl deserves her moment to shine, and it is an honor to help give her that moment.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road to building this organization has not always been smooth\. In the beginning, one of our greatest challenges was simply getting people to understand that a dress could represent so much more than clothing\. For many of the young women we serve, attending a formal event can feel out of reach because of financial hardship, unstable family circumstances or limited access to resources\. We had to build trust with schools, foster\-care programs and community organizations while also showing donors and partners the lasting impact of this work\.

As Maria’s Closet grew, so did the logistical challenges\. Collecting, storing, organizing and maintaining thousands of dresses and accessories requires significant space, time and coordination\. Each year, we also have to raise enough funding to support our programs, scholarships and events while ensuring that every girl receives a meaningful, personalized experience\. There have been moments when resources were stretched, volunteers were limited and the needs of the community felt greater than what we could immediately provide\.

The uncertainty of the pandemic created another major obstacle\. Like many organizations, we had to rethink how we served young women and how we could continue creating moments of connection when in\-person events were not possible\. It was difficult to pause or adapt programs that depended so much on personal interaction, but it also challenged us to become more creative and resilient\.

Through every challenge, our board, volunteers, donors and community partners continued to believe in the mission\. Their support helped us keep moving forward, even when the path was uncertain\. We learned to be flexible, to ask for help and to focus on what mattered most: making sure each young woman felt valued and supported\.

Those struggles have ultimately strengthened Maria’s Closet\. They have reminded us that growth does not happen without persistence, and that meaningful change requires an entire community\. Today, when I see a girl walk into our boutique feeling uncertain and leave standing taller, smiling and believing in herself, I know every challenge has been worth it\.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Maria’s Closet is about so much more than a prom dress. I say that all the time because, after doing this for all these years, I know it to be true. Yes, a beautiful dress may be what first brings a young woman to us, but what I really want her to leave with is the feeling that she was seen, valued and celebrated. I want her to know that there is an entire community of people — many of whom she will never even meet — who believe in her and are cheering her on.

Through our annual Big Give and our year-round boutique, we create an experience that is completely about our girls. They are paired one-on-one with a personal stylist and get to choose a beautiful new designer gown, accessories and all those little extras that make getting ready for prom so exciting. Everything is provided at absolutely no cost. But one thing that has always been incredibly important to me is that Maria’s Closet never feels like charity. When one of our girls walks through our doors, I want her to feel like she has stepped into the most beautiful boutique imaginable and that, for that moment, the entire room is there just for her.

I think that is what sets Maria’s Closet apart. We don’t simply hand someone a dress. We create an experience. There is music, laughter, thousands
of glistening new designer gowns, personal stylists, accessories, beauty items and an incredible group of volunteers who genuinely cannot wait to celebrate these young women. Sometimes I stand back at our Big Give and just watch it all happening — the girls coming out of the dressing rooms, the smiles, the hugs, the volunteers getting emotional — and I still can’t quite believe what this little idea has become.

Maria’s Closet has now dressed more than 4,000 young women and awarded more than $75,000 in scholarships. I am incredibly proud of those numbers, but I am even more proud of what they represent. Behind every number is a girl. She has a name, a family, dreams for her future and a story that matters. That is something I never want us to lose sight of as we continue to grow.

And our relationship with our girls doesn’t necessarily end when prom is over. Our senior recipients have the opportunity to apply for Maria’s Closet scholarships to help them continue their education. To me, that feels like such a natural extension of what we started out to do. We may meet a girl because she needs a prom dress, but ultimately we want her to dream much bigger than prom.

Maria’s Closet began because of one young woman named Gillian who needed a dress and one shopping trip that changed something in me. I saw the confidence on her face when she found her dress, and I knew there had to be more girls like her who just needed someone to help make that moment possible. I named the organization after my mother-in-law, Maria Luna, who for 34 years showed me through her own life what quiet kindness and generosity looked like. I like to think that every time we help another girl, a little piece of Maria’s legacy continues.

What I am most proud of, brand-wise, is that the name Maria’s Closet has come to mean something in our community. It represents kindness, dignity, generosity and people coming together to take care of our girls. Our donors, corporate partners, schools, volunteers and supporters have created this incredible village around them. We could never do what we do without that village.

At the end of the day, success for me isn’t measured by how many dresses are hanging on our racks. It’s that moment when a girl steps out of the dressing room, looks at herself in the mirror and you can actually see something change. She stands a little taller. She smiles differently. She sees herself differently.

A dress may be what brings her to Maria’s Closet, but my hope is that confidence, encouragement and the knowledge that she matters are what she carries with her when she leaves.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I have always felt that what some people call luck, I often recognize as a combination of faith, hard work, timing and the generosity of others.
Maria’s Closet has experienced many moments of extraordinary good fortune. At just the right time, a donor, volunteer, business or community partner will step forward with exactly what we need. Those moments can feel lucky, but I believe they happen because people see the sincerity of our mission and want to become part of it. Every dress donated, every scholarship funded and every hour volunteered represents someone choosing to help a young woman feel valued.

Of course, there has been bad luck as well—difficult situations, unexpected setbacks, financial uncertainty and moments when plans simply did not work out. Those experiences taught me to remain flexible, keep moving forward and never allow one disappointment to define the outcome. In both business and nonprofit work, you quickly learn that you cannot control every circumstance, but you can control how you respond.

I believe opportunities tend to find people who are prepared to receive them. Luck may open a door, but relationships, integrity, consistency and hard work are what allow you to walk through it and build something lasting. When I look back on my life, I feel incredibly blessed—but I also know that every blessing came with a responsibility to work hard, give back and create opportunities for others.

Pricing:

• Free

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mariasclosets.org
• Instagram: @Mariascloset_nonprofit
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mariascloset501c3

Image Credits
Kelly Bracken