2024 Leadership Event for Girls - In Person!

April 20, 2024

Are you ready for the 2024 empowHER Leadership Retreat? We are!

We’re looking forward to seeing you at the 2024 empowHER Leadership Retreat – Join our mailing list to stay informed about this year’s event and future dates!

This year we are ready to have an amazing day with you at the on the beautiful campus of Michigan State University at Breslin Student Events Center on April 20, 2024!

More about the April 20, 2024 event:

Join us for an entertaining, exciting and informative LIVE event. We’re prepared to celebrate YOU in empowHER Leadership Retreat fashion. On April 20, 2024, we will meet as past, present and future empowHER Leadership Retreat participants for our in-person event.

This event is designed to empowHER young women in 4th – 9th grade with fun and engaging content. Whether you’ve participated in the past, or this is your first time, you don’t want to miss the opportunity to interact with an exciting group of presenters AND mentors AND other participants

2023 Retreat Forms

Optional/Special Circumstances

Skylar at work helping others with Suitcases 4 Kids.

Giving Back to Our Community

Suitcases 4 Kids was founded in 2014 by Skylar Medes! The Medes family has been a foster family for ten years and has had 15 foster children during that time. When Skylar was in the 6th grade she noticed that most of the foster kids that came into their home had very little clothing, personal care items, or a suitcase/bag to carry their items. Some children would have clothes and other items they brought with them that they carried in a garbage bag or a paper box, but most of them came with only the clothes they were wearing. This made her realize that when children come into a new foster home, they would not have many essential items they need right away. So, Skylar started to collect gently used clothes, suitcases/bags, and personal care items to give to her foster siblings. Eventually, she expanded her donations and has been able to offer a suitcase full of belongings to over 300 foster children. When she won the 2017 Y-PIF (Youth Passing It Forward) Award, with the help of Give-A-Kid-Project in Holt, and their team of volunteers they are helping Foster Care workers and Foster Parents get needed items for children in foster care, along with all the other amazing projects they offer the community. We are asking empowHER participants to help Skylar and her organization! If you can please bring a donation for children in foster care, you will be helping kids in your community. Personal care items are always needed: diapers, wipes or pullups, socks, underwear, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shampoo/conditioner or lotion, or gently used suitcases/bags. Skylar will make sure that these donated items are given to children in foster care so that they can have items of their own! Thanks for your help!

Visit the Suitcases for Kids Facebook page

RyNea Soul

LaShondra R. Hemphill professionally known as RyNea Soul wears multiple hats as a music technologist, deejay, music composer, artist-educator, and visual artist. She is known for having a great ear and knowledge for music and is known for her effortless transitions and blends weaving through various genres including soul, funk, house, hip-hop, r&b, afrobeat, jazz, and her soulful remixes/re-edits that warranted two consecutive nominations for Alabama Producer of The Year in the hip-hop category. She is the Founder, Executive Director, and Lead Music Production Instructor at The Initiative for Creative Arts, an organization that explores tech literacy through music, and art to empower marginalized youth as artists, entrepreneurs, and advocates so that they are able to realize, and visualize the power of their full potential. RyNea Soul is passionate about empowering the next generation of girls/women and gender-expansive individuals through music, art and technology.

Sponsorship Opportunities

Sponsorships and grants make this event accessible to all girls.

Support comes from corporate and individual gifts, as well as grants from charitable foundations.

Thank you to our amazing 2021 & 2022 Sponsors!

Empowerment Sponsors

Confidence Sponsors

In-Kind Sponsors

empowHER is a retreat for 4th through 9th grade girls - Join us in 2024 on April 20!

In celebration of our seven years of reaching young girls with empowerment and inspiration, and in order to improve our ability to reach an even more diverse group of young women, we are pleased to announce our in-person event for 2024 Leadership Retreat!

On April 20, 2024 we will have an exciting, entertaining and event!

With the help of sponsors, we reach girls from the 4th through 9th grades with support and education through our interactive workshops. empowHER girls embrace their strengths and differences, build their self-confidence and participate in giving back to their communities

Thank you to our 2021 & 2022 Sponsors! We cannot do this event without our sponsors. They are critical to the success of our event every year.

In addition to being a part of empowHERing 450 young girls, and the promised logo placement and sponsor recognition listed in the sponsorship packages below, your logo and empowHER sponsorship is promoted through the following outlets (as shown as actual media and digital coverage in 2019).

Mentoring Opportunities

Looking for an uplifting and exciting mentor opportunity?

We need women 18 – 30 years of age to mentor small teams of approximately 10 young women in 4th – 9th grade.

Mentoring for the empowHER Leadership Retreat means:
• Being a role model,
• listening ear, and
• facilitator for your group

Volunteer Opportunities

Are you looking for a fun-filled, fulfilling and active volunteer opportunity?

Volunteer to help empowHER 450 4th – 9th grade young women!

We are looking for individuals who are available to volunteer with upcoming events. The biggest thing you can do to help now – Share, Donate and Recommend! Like us on social and share our posts. Let’s spread the word.

Past volunteers have shared how fulfilling the experience is and the overwhelming sense of gratitude in being able to help potentially change the trajectory of so many young women’s lives!

Sample Itinerary/Schedule

8:30 am	Doors open and check in begins!
9:00 am	Opening Ceremony
9:20 am	Yoga & Mindfulness
10:15 am	Workshops
11:30 am	Lunch, team photos, ice breakers
12;45 pm	Keynote Speaker
1:00 pm	Parent/Guardian Session*
1:45 pm	Workshops
3:00 pm	Closing Ceremony
3:15 pm	Participant Pick Up