The Empowerment Factory

About Us: The Empowerment Factory is a Rhode Island nonprofit dedicated to helping children develop the skills they need to lead happier, healthier, more empowered lives. Our community youth programs and events, including in-school, after-school, and summer learning, have positively impacted over 8,500 youth.

We focus on three areas of development: creativity, self-esteem, and civic pride. The Creative Squad programs blend hands-on activities with social emotional learning (SEL) and environmental education. Our vision is for every child to feel that they matter and can make a difference in the world around them.

The Empowerment Factory offers programs and special events for schools, afterschool, organizations, libraries and youth groups that help children develop the skills they need to succeed.

The Empowerment Factory was founded by Gail Ahlers, as a nonprofit organization in April of 2014 and became a federally recognized 501(c)3 as of August 2016.

We welcome your involvement and support.  You can give your resources, volunteer your time and advocate as we work together to build a better world.  We are seeking board members, volunteers, donations and grants to support our programs, planning, staffing, materials and other needs.

Impact:

• We have positively impacted over 8,500 urban youth, 90 percent of whom live in under-served communities.
• Teaching soft skills, from handshaking and personal introductions to presentation and advocacy, we prepare youth with the tools necessary for successful employment.
• Educating youth with tools to manage stress, we incorporate breath work, exercise, meditation and neuro-linguistic programming (NLP).
• Leading walking field trips to tour local businesses and bringing in guest speakers, we have exposed youth to a wide variety of careers.
• Promoting health, we collaborate with other organizations in community development projects, like the 2-mile Baldwin Loop Walking Path, and events, like the Annual Healthy Living Community Festival.
• Beautifying the urban environment, we have successfully installed public art and gardens along the walking path, including an educational pollinator garden at Baldwin Elementary, federally-funded through a Community Development Block Grant. 
• Building community, we host family art & literacy workshops and other events that are free and open to the public.

When our students and teachers succeed, it creates a powerful ripple effect that’s felt in families, schools and communities.

The Empowerment Factory provides free in-school, after-school, and summertime enrichment programs to elementary children in low-income, under-resourced communities in Rhode Island to foster the confidence they need to lead successful lives and contribute back to their community. Our youth programs focus on creativity, self-esteem, and civic pride though a variety of art, reading, and science activities informed by RI Department of Education common core standards, Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) standards, and Yale RULER.

In addition to after-school and out-of-school programming, we welcome opportunities to prepare and facilitate activities for in-school enrichment and private groups. We collaborate with administrators and teachers to integrate creative thinking, mindfulness and real world connections into the core curriculum. Experiential activities are presented in The Empowerment Factory’s classroom space and/or delivered offsite at your school or organizations.