Empower was founded in 2014 by Pam Borton, a senior executive coach, keynote speaker, author and former head coach of the Minnesota Gophers women’s basketball program. Pam, executive director, Lauren Wester, and the Board, lead Empower’s mission to inspire, develop and empower our next generation of leaders. They believe that building leaders starts at a young age, and they are passionate about making an impact and a difference. Every girl deserves to live a confident, fulfilling and authentic life. Our mission is to empower our girls into the leaders of tomorrow. Like any skill, leadership and self-confidence take practice and preparation. We provide a safe and fun environment to learn, be inspired and to grow personally. We host seasonal two-day academies in the Twin Cities that feature community leaders facilitating engaging, fun and interactive workshops. Participants will learn and build leadership skills, confidence, public speaking skills, self-esteem, resilience, and techniques for coping with bullying, pressure, and stress. Each girl will have the opportunity for self-reflection through activities, journaling and asking questions. We believe in overall wellness which includes being active and developing as a whole person. We expose girls to various physical activities as part of the academies. Such activities include and are not limited to yoga, mindfulness techniques, karate/self-defense, Crossfit for kids, Zumba, breakdancing, basketball drills and more.