EmpowerU’s mission is to provide high-quality education for marginalised communities, so that they can use their voice to create a better future.

Since launching in 2018, EmpowerU has successfully operated its migrant domestic worker (MDW) education programme, expanding from 350 students to nearly 1,300 students in 2020. In 2021, the EmpowerU team further expanded its MDW education programme to offer digital courses on top of its in-person course offerings.

EmpowerU aims to address the following issues experienced by its service users:

1. Inadequate voice and representation
2. Lack of access to quality education
3. Obstacles to economic upward mobility

EmpowerU expanded its offerings in 2020 to serve a new population: ethnic minority (“EM”) youth Hongkongers, with the PowerThru Education Program. This innovative program is based on a community-led education platform where young professional EM women and men serve as instructors and mentors for EM secondary school students, building economic empowerment and strengthening local EM communities in Hong Kong.

They measure their impact based on the number of students that  enroll in the programmes and the size of the community of instructors and alumni that stay engaged with the programmes. They also use course evaluations that provide insight not only into  students’ attitudes about the programmes, but also show how they have absorbed the key concepts of each course.

Bibi, a Form 5 student shared this feedback on the PowerThru EM Youth education programme:

“First of all, I’m so thankful for PowerThru to always hold the best of the best programmes! THEY SIMPLY JUST NEVER DISAPPOINT. I always wanted to overcome the fear of opening up to people for my sake and my mental health, yet I had always failed to do that. However these calls were so comforting without even trying. It felt so good to open up to people you barely know and it got so comfortable to the point I stopped having those thoughts. Although I wouldn’t say it completely got rid of my fear, it still helped me to at least voice out my thoughts to someone. Which to this, I’m so thankful and appreciate it so much. I would love to join more of the programmes for sure. Of course the {instructors] treated us amazing and [oh my god] I never would have felt this comfortable if it weren’t for them! Hope to see y’all next time” 

– M. Bibi, Form 5 student