2020 EmpowHER Leadership Retreat Cancelled
Monday, March 23, 2020
In light of the evolving situation with the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, CDC guidelines and predictions from the World Health Organization indicate that we can realistically expect conditions to last well into the spring, we’ve made the very difficult but responsible decision to cancel the 2020 empowHER Leadership Retreat.
Above all, our most important responsibility will always be protecting the health of our participants and their families, as well as our mentors, volunteers, staff and community. To that end, we’re mirroring steps taken by Michigan State University and most other schools and universities across the state and nation to help limit the spread of COVID-19.
For registrants, starting very soon, we will begin the process of fully refunding registration fees. You can expect an email from Eventbrite with your refund information. We appreciate your patience while we go through the refund process as this may take several weeks.
If you are a registrant, mentor or volunteer you should have received an email regarding the cancellation and next steps. Please feel free to contact us at registration@empowherretreat.com or mentor-volunteer@empowherretreat.com if you did not receive an email and we will gladly forward you the information.
This in no way means goodbye. empowHER is so much more than a single day. Rather, it’s a state of mind, and our mission remains unchanged: Giving young girls the skills they need to take on personal and professional challenges in their lives.
Our plan is to keep the empowHER website current with regular postings of new and helpful materials to keep all inspired.
We also want you to know that we’re already planning for the 2021 empowHER Leadership Retreat, and we will share the 2021 date later in the year.
We hope you’ll continue connecting with us in the coming year, and we will also announce on social media and our website when new materials are posted, and we will keep you up to date on our progress as we plan for 2021. If you haven’t already, please join our mailing list to receive up-to-date information as it becomes available. You may due so on our home page.
Thank you very much for sharing your passion with us. We look forward to connecting with you throughout 2020 and beyond.
Best Regards,
The entire empowHER Team
Useful Information
Frequently Asked Questions
There are no plans to reschedule the 2020 empowHER Leadership Retreat, since it is impossible to predict when the COVID-19 crisis might abate. Above all, our most important responsibility will always be protecting the health of our participants and their families, as well as our staff, presenters, mentors and volunteers.
In an effort to stay connected with our empowHER community and continue to provide inspiration and learning, many of our presenters have agreed to develop virtual content! We will share additional information about this virtual content as it becomes available.
We will provide every participant with a full refund of the registration fee paid for the 2020 empowHER Leadership Retreat. You can expect an email from Eventbrite with your refund information. We appreciate your patience while we go through the refund process, as this may take several weeks. There is no need to contact us for a refund, as all registrants will be automatically refunded. If you have not received a refund or an email from Eventbrite by April 19, 2020, please email registration@empowHERretreat.com so that we can help.
We are not able to hold registrations and apply them for next year’s event. To ensure a safe event, we must gather current information about each participant including health information, allergies, etc…. and if using 2020 information in 2021, we would not be using the most current data for your child.
We will be refunding all* 2020 registration fees and you will need to fill out a new registration form along with payment if your child wishes to participate in the 2021 event. We have already begun planning for empowHER 2021 as it became clear that continuing with empowHER 2020 would not be possible. As a 2020 registrant, you will be among the first to have access to registering for the 2021 event! You will receive an email once the spring 2021 date has been confirmed – this date is anticipated to be scheduled in fall 2020.
*You will NOT receive a refund if you registered through our scholarship program.
We ask for your patience and understanding. We understand you may have a disappointed child who has already been receiving bad news of other cancellations recently. We are moving as quickly as possible to be prepared for a fantastic empowHER 2021 and are working with 2020 speakers to provide additional opportunities to interact with empowHER this year.
Also, please join our mailing list and follow us on social media – @empowHer on Twitter, empowherretreat on Instagram, and @empowHERretreat and #youGOTthis on Facebook. This will help ensure that if we need to contact you directly, we can and you will know when new content is posted.
We’re working with our sponsors and mentors on new ways to spread the messaging of the empowHER Leadership Retreat. The empowHER team will update this Q&A and add to it as new information becomes available. Thank you for your understanding.