Karen Miltenberger: Inspiring the Next Generation of Advocates
One of the most rewarding parts of the Dressember family is the inspiring advocates that bring their passions, stories, and unique advocacy strategies into our campaign. This week, we wanted to highlight a particularly incredible advocate: Karen Miltenberger.
Karen has been a proud Dressember advocate for the past seven years. She first learned about Dressember and our mission during a church Bible study group that had been reading Jen Hatmaker’s book Interrupted. The women challenged each other to find ways their faith was calling them to interrupt their day-to-day lives in order to live out the mission of Christ. One Bible study member shared her heart for survivors of human trafficking and how the women could use their mission to get involved in Dressember’s campaign. Karen shares that the following year, every member of the group participated in the style challenge as the “Interrupted Hopefuls.”
Seven years later, Karen is still interrupting the status quo and making a difference for human trafficking survivors. Karen has raised over $11,000 for the Dressember campaign due to her diligence, perseverance and commitment to the cause. When asked about her fundraising strategy, Karen had a humbling and insightful answer: “Consistency over all these years shows people that I am committed to and believe in the cause that I am fighting for.” Karen’s experience rings true as a mantra for any aspiring advocate: keep the faith. Consistency is vital, and when you commit yourself fully to doing something outside of your comfort zone, your community will want to learn more.
Karen’s advocacy style is heavily reliant on social media, a great example of the fact that all the tools we need to make a lasting impact are right at our fingertips. She urges advocates to remain hopeful and take small steps because being overwhelmed is more likely to lead to burnout. She believes she has managed to gain contributions over time due to her consistency in messaging. Karen’s “no-frills” approach is simple: keep on sharing to social media and keep showing up year after year. Karen also wears “Ask Me About Dressember” pins, staples during her campaign that help get the conversation started during everyday interactions.
Karen shares: “Overall, it's about continually sharing over time and allowing people to see that human trafficking is happening in our own country and not just overseas.” Karen’s advocacy style hearkens back to Dressember’s founding mission: together, the small act of wearing a dress can start a movement that raises millions of dollars for change. Karen shares that although she considers herself an introvert, using her social media platforms has given her a voice to be more expressive and outgoing as she shares her passion for combatting human trafficking.
Yet, the sweetest twist that Karen’s advocacy journey has taken is her new advocacy partner, Shiloh.
Karen’s eight and a half-year-old daughter, Shiloh, has been a Dressember advocate for the past four years now, seeding her as one of our youngest campaign advocates! The mother-daughter duo has an especially close relationship and enjoys spending time together. Shiloh and Karen love to cook, draw and go to cheerleading practice together. This special bond led to Shiloh’s curiosity about Karen’s clothing choices during December. When she learned more about Karen’s passion for Dressember, she wanted in! Today, Karen takes time to share statistics and age-appropriate information about trafficking with Shiloh to encourage her to grow into a lifestyle of advocacy. Most recently, the mother-daughter duo won our Instagram Reels contest with a fun video announcing their Dressember campaign to the world! When I asked Karen about their victory, she laughed and remarked, “We just did the Reel challenge for fun! I didn’t even know that it was possible for there to be winners. So when we found out, Shiloh and I were so excited because we loved being able to try a new way to show our support.”
Karen has led an impressive seven-year-long advocacy campaign, raising significant funds for the fight against human trafficking and guiding the next generation of advocates. To close, I asked her to share her advice for advocates new to Dressember. Here’s what she said:
“Keep at it! Whether you raise $10 or $10,000, you don’t know what’s going to grab someone’s attention. Don’t get discouraged—the most important thing you can do is show up, stand in solidarity with survivors and let your community know that this problem isn’t going away until everyone gets involved.”
Thank you so much to Karen and Shiloh Miltenberger for their continued support. You rock!
About the Author
Millie Vieira is pursuing a degree in International Politics and Dispute Resolution from the sleepy surf town of Malibu, California. Whether she’s practicing foreign languages (she is currently working to master Spanish, French, and Portuguese), keeping up with international politics, or devouring novels by foreign authors, she is always searching for ways to broaden her horizons. During her free time, you can find Millie exploring California’s national and state parks, going to concerts in Los Angeles, and studying for the LSAT.