OUR FOUNDATION

Mission

Empowerment 4 Girls affirms the self-worth of all girls.

Vision

We envision a just world where all youth are confident, resilient, and resourceful.

Our Programs

Through Empowerment Camps, Conscious Minds Conscious Bodies™ Intentional Sexuality Programs and Teacher Trainings, Empowerment 4 Girls:
  • Educates girls about what it means to take care of and value ones’ self and others and the relationships we build throughout our lives.
  • Nurtures girls in the development of skills and habits that support and strengthen their physical, emotional and mental well-being.
  • Empowers girls to be advocates for themselves and others, and their community to help build a more conscious, compassionate future.

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I've never eaten this good before---thanks for serving such healthy food!" ~FR Age 10

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This camp is a really good camp for girls to learn with other girls. All girls welcome! CDL Age 12

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I didn't know that my body talks to me and that I can listen to it and trust it. ~JJ Age 13 (EC 7/18)

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OUR ROOTS

Her Story
Empowerment Camps became available to families throughout Thurston County (and the greater Puget Sound Region) in 2012 through Sacred Awakenings, a sole proprietorship owned by Kristen Rubis, Founder and Executive Director of Empowerment 4 Girls.  Kristen holds a BA degree from The Evergreen State College with a focus in Alternative Education and Childhood Development. She crafted the Empowerment Camp curriculum based on that training, her yoga and meditation training, and her response to the work she did in the Olympia School District as a para-educator.
As the word spread about the work she was doing and demand for her camps grew each year, the need to expand the reach of the program was limited by Kristen’s own capacity to offer sliding scale registration fees to families, and stay economically viable herself. In 2016 she made the decision, with the support of a group of womxn who became the founding Board of Directors, to start Empowerment 4 Girls as a nonprofit organization and transfer the empowerment camp curricula and programs to that new organization. Empowerment 4 Girls received notification of their status as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization from the IRS in September 2017.
We see the power of helping girls find their inner strength and confidence in their ability to safely navigate life and heal from its tragedies and sorrows, sometimes transforming before our eyes in the course of one week.
Since beginning camps in 2017 as Empowerment 4 Girls we have seen more families bring girls to camps who are at risk of, or already have experienced, domestic and/or sexual abuse or violence, than when our programs began.
We have seen firsthand that important messaging and skill building around personal body boundaries, safety and care is not getting shared, or is not getting through, to anyone involved in those situations.
Empowerment 4 Girls is working to bring our programs to more girls and women in more communities throughout the Puget Sound. We are expanding our camp schedule and curricula, based on the need we see to offer more social/emotional learning opportunities to girls so they have the skills and tools they need to deal effectively with the everyday challenges of life at home, in school and in their communities. Developing a Camp Facilitator Training program to teach more women to lead these programs will offer those women an economic opportunity as camp providers. The girls in their community will have access to the training and mentorship they need to become confident, resilient, compassionate women mentors for the next generation of girls.

A DEDICATED TEAM OF PROFESSIONALS

Our Staff and Board of Directors