EMPOWERUS SUMMIT
EmpowerUS Summit is a campus wide event for students, faculty, and staff. Entering its seventh year, this annual event provides staff, faculty, and students an opportunity to build community connections, learn holistic wellness skills, and explore various professional development topics.
We hope that attendees leave the summit with a feeling of strength, encouragement, and empowerment. By focusing on developing confidence through our collective knowledge, we can own our power and find strength in ourselves and our community. In the spirit of moving forward to create the inclusive world we envision, we present our overall theme: Reclaiming Our Space.
EmpowerUS Summit 2025 Donors
PROGRAM SCHEDULE
9:00 am - 9:45 am
9:00 am - 9:45 am Continental
am - 10:10 am
10:10 am - 10:40 am Keynote Speaker - Reclaiming Our Space, Tiffany Yu The Beach
10:40 am - 10:50 am
10:50 am - 11:50 am
11:50 am - 1:05 pm Community Resource Hub Exchange Area
pm - 2:05
2:05 pm - 2:15 pm
2:15 pm - 2:50 pm
2:50 pm - 3:00 pm
MAP OF COVE ROOMS
LUNCH SPOTLIGHT
Buen Appetit Truck creates a global comfort cuisine. With over 15 years of combined experience, Buen Appetit truck brings an eclectic menu for all. Their passion for food, and really good food, comes from their parents and families experience in the culinary world. Owners, Lauryn and Alex, bring two continents to the palette with Lauryn’s French upbringing in high-end culinary cuisine and Alex’s Mexican inspired dishes to bring together a world of global cuisine.
The Womxn's Center for Success is intentional about supporting local womxn owned businesses at every opportunity we can!
Lunch Choices Include:
Protein bowl: Choice of grilled chicken or fish. Served with chipotle spiced, rice, and spring mix. Topped with house sauce. Served with chips and salsa
Vegan bowl: Grilled vegetable medley, chipotle spiced rice and spring mix. Served with chips and salsa
Tacos (chicken and fish tacos): Grilled chicken or fish tacos. Topped with pico de gallo and house sauce. Served with chips and salsa
Shuttles will be leaving from the flagpoles by Aldrich Hall to bring attendees to UCI Beall Innovations at 8:45AM 9:00 AM 9:15AM 9:30 AM 9:45AM
Shuttles will be leaving from UCI Beall Innovation to bring attendees to the flagpoles by Aldrich Hall at: 3:00PM 3:15 PM 3:30 PM 3:45 PM
“RECLAIMING OUR SPACE: Keynote by
Tiffany Yu
Tiffany Yu is the CEO & Founder of Diversability, an award-winning entirely disabled-run and led social enterprise to elevate disability pride, and a content creator with 200k + followers across platforms. She is a 3x TEDx speaker and has been named a TikTok API (Asian & Pacific Islander) Trailblazer, a LinkedIn Top Voice in Disability Advocacy, and a Well+Good Changemaker. Her first book, The AntiAbleist Manifesto, will be published by Hachette Go in Fall 2024. Tiffany has helped to invest over $170,000 in disability initiatives through the Awesome Foundation Disability Chapter and the Disability Empowerment Endowed Fund at Georgetown University. She has been featured in Marie Claire, the Guardian, and Forbes. She started her career in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and has also worked at Bloomberg and Sean Diddy Combs' REVOLT Media & TV. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and a master's from the London School of Economics. At the age of 9, Tiffany became disabled as a result of a car accident that also took the life of her father.
WORKSHOP BLOCK #1
10:50am - 11:50am
Workshop & Presenter
Reclaiming Your Space:
Cultivating Authenticity and Empowerment
The Power of Connections - Build Your Network, Build Your Future
Liz Gustafson
Heather DeLuca
Katherine O’Connor
Location & Description
Location: The Beach Track: Student, Staff, Faculty Graduate Students, Staff/Faculty
In this one-hour workshop, participants will explore the importance of reclaiming personal and professional spaces to foster authenticity and empowerment. Through guided reflection, attendees will identify obstacles that hinder their ability to reclaim their space and the resulting impact on their well-being. Participants will learn to embrace their authentic selves by aligning their actions with their vision, purpose, and values, unlocking new possibilities for growth and fulfillment. Join us to start a fulfilling journey toward a more authentic and empowered life.
Location: Venture Cove B
Track: Undergraduate Students, Graduate Students
In this workshop learn how to network from womxn in different food and service industries. Practice, learn, and take this skill with you for your future networking! Networking is more than just exchanging business cards it’s about building meaningful connections that can open doors to new opportunities, personal growth, and career success. In this interactive workshop, participants will explore the power of networking, understand its importance, and develop practical strategies to cultivate strong professional relationships.
WORKSHOP BLOCK #1
10:50am - 11:50am
Workshop & Presenter
The Art of Negotiation
Location
& Description
Location: Venture Cove C
Sydney ( /Her/Ella)
Alicen Bosley (She/Her)
Beyond Budgeting
Elizabeth Lee
Track: Student, Staff, Faculty Graduate Students, Staff/Faculty
In this one-hour workshop, participants will explore the importance of reclaiming personal and professional spaces to foster authenticity and empowerment. Through guided reflection, attendees will identify obstacles that hinder their ability to reclaim their space and the resulting impact on their well-being. Participants will learn to embrace their authentic selves by aligning their actions with their vision, purpose, and values, unlocking new possibilities for growth and fulfillment. Join us to start a fulfilling journey toward a more authentic and empowered life.
Location: Venture Cove A
Track: Graduate Students, Staff/Faculty
Dream big and make your money work for you! In this interactive workshop, you’ll learn to reframe your relationship with money, set financial goals with a clear plan, and embrace key principles like budgeting, paying yourself first, and avoiding the myth of timing the market. Walk away with the confidence to align your finances with your biggest life aspirations!
WORKSHOP BLOCK #2
1:05pm - 2:05pm
Workshop&Presenter
Inner Child Altars & Rituals:
Resourcing Safety and Joy from Within
CynthiaAlonzoPerez,LCSW (she/her/ella)
Tuning In: A Sound Bath for Mindfulness
Location&Description
Location: The Beach
Track: Graduate Students, Staff/Faculty
An Inner Child Altar is a physical space and/or a sacred inner portal to your inner child’s most delicate and precious wonders. Note that this space can be physical and literal, while at the same time being a portal to your creative consciousness through the inner child. This space is inherently sacred because it is your inner child’s intentions, curiosities, nostalgia and dreams. What goes in your physical inner child altar is personal and intimate and looks different for everyone but the energy it invites is safety, innocence, play and unjudged love When you create a physical altar for your inner child’s encuentros, you say to the inner child with non-verbal details, symbolism and love letters, nuanced and grand that say, you matter, I want you to take up space and I will come daily and check in with you, I am happy to know you, come home here. We will use guided visualization, inner resourcing and bilateral stimulation to create an inner child altar in our knowing field and discuss as a group our intentions for a physical inner child altar or ritual.
Location: Venture Cove C
Track: Undergraduate Students, Graduate Students, Staff/Faculty
Immerse yourself in a restorative sound healing experience featuring the soothing sounds of crystal singing bowls designed to promote mindfulness, reduce stress and support overall well-being. During this workshop, you will be guided into a state of relaxation as the pure, harmonic tones of the crystal bowls fill the space. Participants can expect: a brief introduction to sound healing and its benefits, an immersive sound bath experience and time to for reflection and integration following the session.
WORKSHOP BLOCK #2
1:05pm - 2:05pm
Workshop & Presenter
PROJECT YOU: A conversation + guide to loving and accepting lf )
Location & Description
Location: Venture Cove A
Track: Undergraduate Students, Graduate Students
Exclusive for Sad Girls Club. Join Today!
You’re invited to a Tea Party for Sad Girls! Together, we’ll develop strategies for identifying when we may need a little extra care and what we can do to fill our cups. This workshop isn't about "fixing" your feelings— it's about honoring them and responding with compassion! Through interactive discussions, you’ll learn new self-care strategies, build a personal joy menu you can return to again and again, and grow from sipping and spilling tea community with your fellow Sad Girls. Come ready to share, listen, and discover new ways to prioritize your well-being so you can show up fully for yourself and your community! R di l W ll B i g
Destiny Nava (She/Her/Ella/They/Them/Elle)
Location: Venture Cove B
Track: Undergraduate Students, Graduate Students, Staff/Faculty
In this workshop, we will hold space to talk about our perceptions of well-being, suggestions and benefits for practicing taking care of ourselves, collect resources that can assist us and end with a guided meditation.
BREAKING BARRIERS PANEL
2:15 pm - 2:50 pm
Sit in on the Breaking Barriers Panel where our attendees will be able to hear from womxn leaders on campus about overcoming barriers to leadership and tackling inequities in the workplace.
Dr. Stella Ko (She/Her)
Senior Staff Psychologist at UCI Counseling Center
Dr. Benis Egoh, (she/her)
Associate Professor, Dept. of Earth System Science
Gwendolyn Kuhns Black (Gwen/She/Ella)
Assistant Vice Chancellor, Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action
Sherwynn Umali (She/her/hers)
Deputy Chief of Staff, Student Affairs
2023-2024 EMPOWERUS SUMMIT COMMITTEE
Thank you to our amazing committee that worked hard since the start of Fall 2022 quarter to plan this in-person event.
Rasta Bagheri, CARE Advocate – UCI CARE
Chasia Jeffries – Graduate Ph.D Student
Sandy Wang, Assistant Director – International Center
Christina K. Treble, Honors Advisor – Campuswide Honors Collegium
Ta’hlia Davis, Undergraduate Student
Shayla Ho, Creative Media Designer 2 – Womxn’s Center for Success
Bowie Rivera, Transgender Care Specialist – LGBT Resource Center
Saira Fazli, Assistant Director of Career Education – Career Pathways
May Wilson, Associate Director, Alumni Relations – Alumni Association
Erika Cortez, Assistant Director – Womxn’s Center for Success
ABOUT THE WOMXN'S CENTER FOR SUCCESS
Mission Statement
The Womxn’s Center for Success at UC Irvine advances gender equity by raising consciousness on social justice concepts, fostering personal and professional growth, uplifting community success, building community connections, encouraging identity development, and creating space that supports holistic well-being.
Why ‘Womxn’?
“Womxn” is one of a few lexical and social phenomena, including the adoption of “ x ” in naming gender nonconforming individuals, genderqueer folx, two spirit people, femmes, transgender folx, and non-binary people.
Womxn acknowledges that gender identity exists in a sphere and one word has room for multiple gender expressions without weighing one more important. It highlights that more than one gender expression can be impacted by patriarchy, misogyny, and sexism.
Community Commitments
We support each other in the real world, on campus, and in the digital space. We listen, learn, and grow. Our community is continuously evolving and so are we. We create brave spaces that are intersectional, inclusive, and non-judgmental. We empower and amplify the voices that go unseen, unheard, and underappreciated.
We unapologetically stand up against racism, homophobia, anti-blackness, transphobia, ableism, classim, and xenophobia.
We take care of ourselves and each other because joy, self-care, and community empowerment are acts of resilience.
Services & Programs
One on one appointments, We Rise Ambassador Program, Feel Good Moments, Reproductive Justice at UCI, Sad Girls Club at UCI (Hybrid), Affiliate Program, Menstruation Equity at UCI, Weekly Newsletter (Virtual)
We hope you have enjoyed your time with us at the summit & hope to see you next year!
Take our survey so you can be entered to win a gift card to the womxn-owned businesses listed below:
Oui the People - We believe in rewriting the rules of bodycare
Our mission is to create thoughtful, effective body care that prioritizes skin health and celebrates individuality. With awardwinning formulas and ingredients that deliver real results, we’re here to help you feel confident in your skin on your terms. From innovative body treatments to elevated daily essentials, we’re committed to crafting products that are as uncompromising as you are. Because taking care of yourself should always feel like a privilege, not a chore.
Topicals - is transforming the way you feel about skin through effective science-backed products and mental health advocacy.
