Who We Are
Our Mission
To increase access to meaningful knowledge and connections, quality of life and agency over our own outcomes.
Building Community
Our Values
We value each field.
When our founder, Annette, created a full-day, experiential hands-on learning summit that offered professional credits in multiple disciplines, she didn’t expect such diverse professionals as physical therapists, massage therapists, chiropractors, occupational therapists, and craniosacral therapists to all be happily learning together.
But participant feedback showed that the opportunity to learn and collaborate together across professional disciplines was very rare. Participants said they left the event with a better understanding of each other’s perspectives, that the overall effect of that collaboration was energizing and exhilarating, and that they wanted more.
We value the many perspectives and strengths that it takes to build an inclusive community.
What We Believe In
Inclusion
Real Life Experiences
We house and elevate people’s stories and center the wisdom of lived experience.
Community
We believe in collaborating in a way that is accessible to all.
We center real life.
People wanted to share their own stories, so we made space during live events for them to share their lived experiences. Hearing one another’s stories allowed participants to connect with each other, and to know that we are not alone in what we go through as providers or patients. Our participants told us that they found meaning in the stories of people’s lives, and that this new awareness elevates the quality of their professional services and strengthens their connections to community support.
We are creating a space to house and elevate people’s stories and center the wisdom of lived experience.
Community
We build community together.
One of the most powerful pieces of feedback we received from early live events was that providers were thrilled to bring specific information about low-cost, easily accessible, and effective treatment protocols back to their home communities.
Geographically accessible treatment options are game-changers in rural communities, where accessing care often means waiting months for an appointment with an urban provider, then booking an expensive flight away from home just to get to that appointment.
We recognize the challenges of providing healthcare in a state with limited infrastructure and a high employment turnover rate, with new people coming and going often.
We foster more cross-sectional collaboration and cross-pollination of ideas in a way that is accessible from any place, at any time of year.
We are excited about the future.
This website is the culmination of efforts and energy from many people that believe healing is possible, and that with the right supports we can all live meaningful lives that respect our various intersectional identities. This is just the beginning, and we’re excited to jump into the future of educational possibilities.
Thank you for making this so accessible. The stories of individuals related to material we learned really sticks to memory.
Participant #54
Alaska
Our Founder
Our founder, Annette, has rich experience on both sides of the patient equation. She has worked extensively in medical, dental and financial offices, and has consulted with providers in multiple fields to support her own healing after being in a car accident caused by a reckless driver.
Her lived experience helped Annette realize that invisible injuries are often dismissed, and medical specialists often don’t fully understand each other’s scopes of practice. With that in mind, she created a professional summit with speakers from various backgrounds, offering continuing education credits for multiple professions and an opportunity for specialists to learn together.
Annette thought the summit would be a one-and-done event, but it was a huge hit. Participants said they’d never experienced anything like it, and that they enjoyed learning from and with each other. And they asked for more! So Annette planned more educational events, and included more specialists and more types of professional credit. Stories of people with lived experience in their own healing journeys provided a potent backdrop for positive change. Each project organically generated energy for the next, based on individual and community partnerships.
One of the community events that Annette curates is an annual disability awareness art show, in which every contributing artist has some personal connection to the world of disability. She also brought a worldwide art program to Alaska to raise awareness about brain injury.
Annette sought to smooth the way forward for disability inclusion in community, writing resolutions in local government to raise awareness about disability employment and invisible injuries. She then helped create and pass a state law that makes it easier for those who need disability parking placards to get them — often a vital tool in maintaining independence. Every step of the way, she worked with friends, mentors, colleagues, and personnel that shared her vision of a collaborative, accessible community with dignity.
With its goal to equalize access to quality education, this website is a natural extension of the advocacy and outreach efforts of Annette and her friends. She hopes that you will find something of value here, regardless of your demographic, and is already looking forward to the expansion of this website over time.
You can reach out to Annette with questions, comments and ideas at info@empoweringeducation.us
WHAT WE DO DIFFERENTLY
Join as a Member and get your CE courses for a full year at our lowest rate
Healthcare and professional services are often not culturally competent, and are filled with bias built directly into the system. We include lived experiences in our educational model so that you can make the difference that you want with all your clients and team members.
Get in on the ground floor of our Continuing Education platform and take advantage of our intro pricing!