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 the involvement of others in the fight against poverty throughout the world.

Empowering Nations was co-founded in 2002 by Dr. Warner Woodworth, a professor at Brigham Young University and a world-renowned expert in social entrepreneurship. The other founders are college students committed to making a difference in the lives of others. Earlier in its history, Empowering Nations sponsored projects in Somalia and Brazil. Both were funded in part by grants from the Office of Research and Creative Activity, schools and small businesses, and by the generous donations of our participating volunteers and their families.

In 2005, Empowering Nations, with the aid of HELP International, was the proud sponsor of Wave of Hope, a project that provided reconstruction assistance to the Asian tsunami victims of Thailand during the summer of 2005.  For more information regarding our Wave of Hope project, please visit here.

In 2006, Empowering Nations participated in a number of projects in Ghana, Thailand, and Panama.  In Ghana, volunteers worked primarily in village schools, but also served in community orphanages, hospitals, and clinics, and participated in health care and disease prevention programs in remote village communities. In Thailand, volunteers continued the work of 2005 after Southeast Asia’s tsunami, providing additional service at the Cape Pakarang Boatyard and conducting a feasibility study to identify future options for the boatyard and those affected by the tsunami.  In addition, a consultant was sent to Panama City to conduct a feasibility study for establishing a micro-credit institution.  Both the urban and rural areas of Panama were examined to research self-reliance and self-employment training needs. For more information regarding our 2006 projects, please visit our Past Projects page.

Empowering Nations is now looking to expand our fight against poverty by facilitating effective, development-focused social entrepreneurial opportunities during the summer of 2007.  Working with established projects in Ghana, Kenya, Peru, and Paraguay, our global change agents will engage in a variety of development efforts such as micro-credit and microfinance training and activities, agricultural training, and working to improve eye health and eliminate preventable blindness.  For more information regarding our 2007 projects, please visit our Projects page.

Empowering Nations is a unique non-profit organization because it is completely volunteer-run. One of the goals of Empowering Nations is to provide opportunities to directly fight poverty for the lowest cost possible, and we do this by relying on the efforts of the dedicated volunteers that work together to carry out the various administrative responsibilities.

Empowering Nations is also focused on creating awareness about the poverty that exists in the world. One of the ways we do this is by helping college or high school students start an Empowering Nations Club. We educate the clubs about the poverty in the world, and then we help them learn how they may become directly involved in the fight to change it. Please email us if you are interested in starting an EN Club at your high school.      

The main focus of Empowering Nations is to help the people that live in poverty make the lives of themselves, their families, and their communities better. Please see our Projects page for more information on each of our projects.