Empowering Nations is a pro-active, volunteer-run 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to empowering the poor through education and relief, and to promoting and facilitating involvement in the fight against poverty throughout the world.

How big is the battle? Right now, more than one billion people live in extreme poverty, unable to meet their basic needs for survival. The problem is large, but so is the potential for change.

Empowering Nations has sent hundreds of volunteers to work on projects in Africa, South America, and Asia, typically partnering with a local organization that knows the area’s greatest needs. Since the organization is completely run by volunteers, Empowering Nations is able to eliminate the costly overhead of most charitable organizations, thereby providing agents and resources to directly fight poverty. Working with established projects in countries including Brazil, Ghana, Kenya, Peru, Panama, and Thailand, Empowering Nations’ volunteers have built schools and homes, provided micro-credit training, taught disease-prevention methods, bolstered literacy, and provided disaster relief, impacting the lives of thousands.

A core belief permeating Empowering Nations is that handouts to the poor cannot solve the underlying problem. Teaching and empowering people to help themselves is the only way to create lasting change. And while volunteers are changing the lives of others, they alter their own lives forever as they see and feel the impact of their service. Empowering Nations firmly believes that one person can, in fact, make a difference. Please see our projects page for more information about current Empowering Nations projects.

Volunteers from the Wave of Hope Tsunami project, Thailand 2005