About | empowHER

The empowHER leadership retreat was created in honor of April Bocian.

April was born on April 28, 1998, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Family, friends and teammates have countless memories of how April made them laugh and brightened their day, whether she was clowning around with basketball friends, playing practical jokes on her sisters or spending time with her family.

April was an amazing girl with a powerful spirit whose life, unfortunately, ended too quickly. In honor of April, Suzy Merchant and the Eli Broad College of Business have partnered to launch the empowHER retreat.

Michigan State women's basketball head coach Suzy Merchant and the Eli Broad College of Business have partnered to create empowHER. The empowHER leadership retreat is a grassroots initiative designed to reach young girls at the right time and give them the skills they need to take on personal and professional challenges in their lives. We want them to embrace their strengths and differences and take positive steps forward, knowing they matter and they have the power to make a difference for themselves and their communities.

Volunteer Coordinator Chair OPEN

The Volunteer Coordinator Chair is responsible for recruiting, training and supervising volunteers for the annual empowHER Leadership Retreat. This includes:

Serving on the Executive Board and working with the board to ensure volunteer assignments align with the schedule and needs of the retreat
Providing the Communications Chair with all necessary recruitment information and forms for the event website
Creating volunteer teams for each necessary segment of the event
Recruiting volunteers
Creating training materials for volunteer team leaders and volunteer teams; Communications Chair can assist with design of these materials
Training volunteer team leaders; providing team leaders with materials and information they need to train their teams
Confirming volunteers are able to meet their commitment to empowHER
Ensuring all volunteers have filled out a background check form
Serving as point person on-site for volunteer questions during the event
After the event, crafting an email thanking volunteers for their time
After the event, collaborating with Mentor Chair, Content Chair and Communications Chair to craft post-event survey
Food & Drink Responsibilities:
- Securing and coordinating food donations for the annual retreat
- Contacting previous food donors to ensure they will provide food again
- Soliciting new in-kind food donations
- Leading a team of volunteer to pick up donations as needed and managing volunteers to coordinate food service throughout the retreat