Meet the Students Behind "Empower Girls," a Non-Profit Empowering Young Women in Business

Julie and Pavni are the current Executive Directors of “Empower Girls” in Vancouver.

Julie and Pavni are the Executive Directors of Empower Girls Vancouver, a non-profit striving to close the gender gap in the business sector. Kickstarted in 2020, the organization has established over 45 empowerment programs, fundraised over $6.4K, and empowered over 5000 women in the Lower Mainland.

For Julie and Pavni specifically, they’ve focused on promoting their organization over the last year. Read how they significantly expanded the reach of a business project.

Learn from Pavni and Julie

• #1: Give us an overview of "Empower Girls.”

• #2: What does a day look like as Executive Directo …

• #3: What’s one of the most inspiring stories or sp …

• #4: How has leading this organization helped you g …

• #5: Looking back, what is one thing you would have …

• #6: Last words of advice?

#1: Give us an overview of "Empower Girls.”

Julie:
Empower Girls Vancouver focuses on providing young women, especially those from underserved backgrounds, with opportunities to explore the business world. We offer mentorship, leadership programs, and business workshops that help our participants develop the skills they need to succeed. So far, we’ve organized over 45 programs and raised more than $6,400, directly empowering over 5000 women in Vancouver.

Pavni:
We also founded the club expansion program last October—we’ve expanded our reach to schools, setting up clubs at Burnaby Central and Moscrop Secondary. We’re seeing more and more young women get involved, and it’s been so rewarding to see our reach expanding and seeing how we can support other women in business!

#2: What does a day look like as Executive Directors of “Empower Girls?”

Julie:

Most of our work is online because our team is scattered across different schools across the lower mainland. We organize bi-weekly meetings, executive meetings, and monthly meetings with club presidents.

A lot of our work is self-started - we basically come up and organize tasks for the next weeks and months.

But myself and Pavni do most of the work together and it can be anything. Two days ago, we were filming reels for our Instagram page and just yesterday, we were trying to open up a bank account!

#3: What’s one of the most inspiring stories or speakers that you’ve heard from?

Pavni:

So in October, we had a speaker from UBC. We were organizing a university info-session that we opened up for girls to join.

They were just so enthusiastic to help other people out. You could feel how much energy they put into their presentation to go above and beyond to give advice to the audience. They shared tips and information for other students to apply to UBC, and I really enjoyed just being around them.

I feel it really shows how “Empower Girls” promotes such inclusivity, openness, and is just a nice environment for everyone to grow and learn together.

#4: How has leading this organization helped you grow as a person?

Julie:

It really helped me break out of my shell. Growing up, I’ve always had a fear of public speaking. Talking to people was a big challenge, even if it was talking at the front of the classroom or meeting new people. I always tried to avoid it.

But ever since I’ve joined Empower Girls, I’ve had the opportunity to lead meetings, meet so many people, and speak in front of 150 people.

So learning how to public speak was the biggest growth factor for me and actually having a place where my voice could be heard.

Pavni:

For myself, there’s a lot of stigma in India around the role of women and what they can/cannot do. I always wished that everyone was treated equally and growing up, I was never really encouraged to voice my opinion to others or even react to controversial topics.

So being the Executive Director of Empower Girls, hosting a “Beyond Business” Workshop - it feels very much like my dreams coming to reality.

#5: Looking back, what is one thing you would have changed if you were to start leading the club all over again?

Julie:

I mentioned this previously, but when Pavni and I first stepped up into the role, the exposure level wasn’t that great. For myself, I also didn’t have much experience leading non-profit organizations - more so student clubs, which is quite different.

We started almost completely fresh - and Pavni and I have done a lot of work to bring Empower Girls back up especially through club expansion. I wish there was a stronger foundation and support systems already set up.

There were many times where I felt like giving up because we would put in so much effort and then no one would see it. But I’m glad we kept going.

Pavni:

I agree with Julie. Definitely, a moment that stuck out to me was our executive recruitment. Julie and I were shocked because we thought there would be a higher amount of applications proportional to our time investment. It was super disheartening - but I’m glad we were able to continue pushing.

After that, we did well - we grew 400+ followers on Instagram, have a really high interaction, and I’ve even had students approach me and ask if I’m the executive director of “Empower Girls.” That was really crazy considering how low our exposure level was before.

#6: Last words of advice?

Julie:

Don’t stop. It’s definitely hard to even begin something in the first place. Making these initaitives are so difficult especially when there are so many non-profit organizations and other students who are doing the same thing.

Just believe in what you do, because there will be a point in your work where you’ll be proud of yourself whether you reach a specific number of people or not.

Pavni:

If you have a thought or aspiration, just do it. Don’t think about it too much because your gut feeling at the end of the day is right, and you’re probably meant to do that. Keep pushing and you’ll see results.

Julie and Pavni want to continue expanding “Empower Girls.” Follow their progress and story!

• https://www.instagram.com/emgirlsvancouver/