(Minneapolis) December 8, 2020 — EmpowerU today announced that the company has secured $1 million in seed funding to launch its highly personalized, tech-powered social-emotional learning solution nationwide. The funding will fuel EmpowerU’s efforts to bring much needed mental health support to students beyond Minnesota, where more than 1,000 students have benefited with improved wellbeing, confidence and hope.
EmpowerU combines daily motivational coaching with engaging, online skill-building lessons to support student growth, one small step at a time. This daily blend of support results in significant improvements in mood, school attendance, and grades, while decreasing the need for more costly interventions.
EmpowerU coaches are highly trained, empathetic therapists who help students face their obstacles and make the important connection between core concepts in online lessons and the unique challenges in their lives, fueling change.
“EmpowerU delivers transformational student support at a fraction of the cost of therapy,” says Katie Dorn, company co-founder. “As a licensed school counselor and therapist, I know how desperate educators are for cost-effective tools that actually help students overcome struggle. Most students are unable to change the obstacles that create their struggle, but EmpowerU helps them learn strategies to navigate them and come out the other side stronger, building hope that despite their difficult circumstances, they can feel better and thrive - today and in the future.”
Independent evaluation showed that:
- More than 93% of students who complete EmpowerU make a dramatic shift from discouragement and anxiety to improved wellbeing, motivation, and hope.
- More than 88% of students complete the program, compared to 5-30% completion rates with other programs.
- More than 98.5% of students would recommend EmpowerU to a friend or classmate.
Students can access the portal on any computer or mobile device. The semester-long course can be completed online in only 20 to 30 minutes per weekday. EmpowerU’s approach is aligned with CASEL and National Health and Wellness standards, so students who complete all six units of the course can receive a semester wellness credit.
EmpowerU was launched in the Twin Cities by three clinicians from different but complementary adolescent mental health specialties who saw the deep need to re-engineer the delivery of mental health support to schools. The highly supported course uses evidence-based strategies, habit change tools, wellness focus, and mental health coaching methodology to empower students to decrease anxiety and build persistence, resilience, and confidence.
EmpowerU offers site-based intervention licenses to schools and colleges, as well as access to the credit-bearing course through third-party online schools. To learn more, visit EmpowerU.education.
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About Empower U
EmpowerU’s highly personalized, online SEL program helps young people replace anxiety and depression with resilience and confidence, fueling student transformation without a heavy lift on staff or need for additional hires. The program provides each student with interactive lessons and personalized coaching, pairing technology with brain research in a unique way that supports students and empowers their growth. Multi-year data makes it clear: nobody understands Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) and approaches SEL the way EmpowerU does.