Empowerment is a power sharing process between an employee and an organization. Empowerment comes from the individual, but the organization can foster it by creating a work environment which helps foster the ability and desire of employees to act in empowered ways. Underlying this process is the cultivation of mutual respect between all members of the organization.

While we cannot give people power and we cannot make them "empowered," we can provide the opportunities, resources and support that they need to become involved themselves.

Second, our programs use a strengths-based approach, which operates on the assumption that people have strengths and resources for their own empowerment.

Traditional teaching and professional development models concentrate on deficit-based approaches, ignoring the strengths and experiences of the participants. In a strengths-based approach the focus is on the individual’s assets. This approach does not ignore problems. Instead it shifts the frame of reference to define the issues. By focusing on what is working well, successful solution-oriented strategies can be developed to address challenges.

Philosophy (cont’d)