Najwa Dahdah is the founder and owner of Empowered, a childcare training and consulting company. Created in 2016 in response to a need for professional development for human service workers, Empowered prepares childcare professionals and Center Directors to better serve children, families and the community. Najwa is a bilingual (Arabic and English) childcare expert with over 16 years of early childhood work experience in both home based (family and group) and center based programs. As one of Metro-Detroit’s outstanding spokespersons for children, Najwa has partnered with community-based organizations to improve childcare by providing evidence-based, culturally competent education. Prior to working in early childhood education, Najwa enjoyed a successful career in banking management for 7 years where she excelled in operations (e.g. policy development and implementation and recording keeping). Najwa earned an associate of applied Science in child development from Schoolcraft College and a Bachelor of Science in early childhood education from Rochester College. In addition, she has a child development associate (CDA) credential. She is a Vice-Chair of the YWCA of Metropolitan Detroit and a committee member of Community Relations of C-Asist DBA Islamic Institute of Knowledge.