[RESOURCE] Empower Work: text support for people in tough work situations

[Zoe Blumenfeld]

Hi all,

A mentor and former colleague of mine, Jaime-Alexis Fowler, is building an exciting new nonprofit service: text support for people in tough work situations via trained peer counselors. I think this is a much needed service, especially for nonprofit professionals working in environments with limited resources.

Here's a bit more about what she's created. They just launched a pilot a few weeks ago and already have users from across the U.S.

Empower Work is on a mission to create healthy workplaces where people are valued, supported, and empowered. They provide accessible, immediate support through trained peer counselors via web chat or text to anyone across the United States.

Challenging work experiences are universal, resources to navigate them are not.

Empower Work is the first anonymous, third-party resource that puts the employee first. Their goal is to help people navigate tricky work questions or tough work problems and come to an outcome they feel comfortable with. The model is premised on making changes on both sides of the conversation -- providing support for those who need it and providing training and resources to the peer counselors to improve interpersonal and management skills in a variety of workplaces.

It's early stages, and needs a lot more input, feedback, research, and data! They've been working with leading executive coaches, organizational psychologists, HR specialists, diversity and inclusion experts, labor and employment lawyers, technologists, union organizers, and most importantly people who need the service.