Empowerment 4 Girls

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

We want girls everywhere to know they are valued and valuable treasures in our world. We're using our programs to directly educate, nurture and empower girls with yoga, meditation, art, sharing circles, role-modeling, thematic guest presenters, and self-care tools that will support them throughout their lives. We're also creating curricula that can be shared with communities and school districts everywhere to help grow more conscious, compassionate humans with the knowledge, tools, and support they need to create a just world where all people are confident, resilient, and resourceful.

Support from SOLVE and the Elevate Prize will level up our ability to quickly complete our training curricula so we can train more adults in our program curricula to work with girls in their communities and school districts. It will also give us the boost to increase our on-staff program facilitators so we can directly reach more girls with our in-person and online programs.

We want to change the way women and girls are perceived, treated, and valued in our world and we believe empowering girls is key to this major shift in our collective evolution.  

Girl Power Rocks!

Kristen Rubis holds a BA degree from The Evergreen State College with a focus in Alternative Education and Childhood Development. She developed the Empowerment Camp curriculum based on her education, and personal training in yoga and meditation, as a response to the work she did in the Olympia School District as a para-educator. Seeing girls in school hallways bullying and being bullied deeply impacted Kristen. She has dedicated herself to creating empowering out-of-school programs to address this and other issues facing adolescent girls.  

As word spread about the work Kristen was doing, the demand for her camps grew each year. In 2016 Kristen made the decision, with the support of a group of women who became the founding Board of Directors, to start Empowerment 4 Girls (E4G).  

E4G remains dedicated to the work of educating, nurturing and empowering girls, offering two curricula in our annual day-camp schedule: Empowerment Camps 4 Girls and Conscious Minds Conscious Bodies™ Camps 4 Girls. Teacher training programs for each of these curricula will extend their reach to more girls, as independent camp facilitators and public school teachers participate in them, then use the training and camp templates in their communities and school districts.

Over 30% of girls in Washington State report being bullied ~ 2018 Healthy Youth Survey

Bullying can lead to physical assault, sexual bullying, and sexual assault. Bullies and abusers often are tender souls who have themselves been bullied or abused, then turn to this tactic in self-defense. It’s a heart-crushing feedback loop that proves permanently damaging, and even deadly, on an individual, familial, community, national, and global level.  

1 in 3 women globally has experienced physical or sexual violence at least once in their lifetimes ~ World Health Organization

Empowerment 4 Girls was founded by women who match the above statistic. We have personally experienced and witnessed physical, mental, emotional, and/or sexual bullying or abuse sometime in our lives; in our homes, schools, workplaces, and public spaces. We know the damage of those experiences impact us throughout our lives. We want all girls to be free from those experiences. 

Towards that end, we offer day-camps and teacher training curricula for communities and school districts to use in raising more conscious, compassionate humans with the knowledge, skills, and experience to love and care for themselves, their loved ones, their communities, and the world we all share.

Mindfulness tools such as yoga, meditation, and breathwork are the basis of our programs. We teach girls to use these proven, ancient self-care techniques for personal development and empowerment. Incorporating art and dance, daily camp themes focus on mental, emotional and social well-being to develop self-awareness, inner strength, and confidence.  

Adapting to covid19 we’ve introduced online sessions, extending our reach and building an empowerment community of educators, volunteers and donors, taking on responsibility for nurturing bold and empowered future generations of visionary leaders. We’ll launch our Mighty Networks online community and self-paced programming in 2021 to further extend our reach to girls with internet access everywhere.  

Conscious Minds Conscious Bodies™ (CMCB™) intentional sexuality programs teach body awareness for empowered choices. Daily themes include anatomy and body changes, consent and boundaries, gender identity and sexual orientation, building healthy relationships, and social media awareness, within the framework of a fun week of activities and presentations by trained educators and professionals from our community. As Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction certified Clock-Hour Providers, E4G will deliver training in this curriculum to public school teachers across the state with a program that will be replicable by school districts everywhere.

We introduce girls to life-changing ideas and practices that bring about a better sense of well-being, confidence and ability to care for themselves and others. Programming is based in non-judgement and compassion. Accepting all girls as they are, where they are in the moment, without expectation for them to be or act any differently allows each participant to express their individuality while supporting their fellow campers to do the same. The camps help girls understand that they are not alone on the tricky path of puberty and they’re encouraged to discover their intrinsic worth. This improves self-esteem and creates a depth of compassion for the unique experience and expression of others.  

Program evaluation is a primary improvement area for E4G. We know the importance of tracking the impact of our programs. Beyond what is clearly evident from the glowing testimonials of camp participants and anecdotes from families and friends, intake and feedback forms collected from the inception of our camps provide a foundation of data to begin with. We need additional human and financial resources to focus on using that data to express the impact of our programs. The Elevate Prize will be a game changer for this critical work.