Visionary Spotlight: Kristy Norbert of Empower Her Network
/Kristy Norbert, Executive Director and Co-founder of Empower Her Network, appreciates that circumstance is all that separates her reality from those of marginalized populations. Kristy has spent 18 years leveraging her social worker background as an advocate for the vulnerable among us. Empower Her Network benefits from all Kristy learned and experienced during her time as Executive Director of Boys Hope Girls Hope of Baltimore and Her Future Coalition.
She runs transparent programs with the goal of building up those in need towards a day where they can support themselves. Kristy is a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Volunteer field hockey Coach at Connecticut College, private clinician, and Co-Founder and Executive Director of Empower Her Network. Kristy enjoys spending time in any adventure with her husband, her two boys, and her dog. She resides in New London, CT.
Here are a few of the big topics we talked about:
Kelly introduces Kristy and allows her to share what Empower Her Network is.
Human trafficking is happening right here, in the United States and Kristy is on a mission to end it.
Kristy shares how some women come to be in human trafficking situations.
As individuals of privilege, we need to bring more awareness around how we can start change.
Kristy shares how the idea of the Empower Her Network came to be and how she powered through any apprehension or fears.
Kristy has known what she is meant to do since she was 8 yrs old but does regular check-ins with herself to ensure that she is still happy.
When you love what you do and want to do it 24 hours a day, forcing yourself to step away can actually make you BETTER at your job.
What is holding you back from what you are being pulled to do?
Every women wants to be free and independent. They want to be able to pay their own bills and take care of their children. They don’t want to ask for help.
Women have this yearning to connect and help other women. They want to feel a sense of belonging.
Kristy shares what her Inner Voice is tell her to do.
In Kristy’s Voice:
“Anyone in my family, or any of my friends would say as soon as you tell me I can't do something, or challenge me to do something, ever since I was a little girl, I'm going to do it.”
“I don't think I had fear around creating the Empower Her Network. I think I had tons of excitement, and I felt ready. I felt like this is it."
“I've always meant to give a voice to those who don't have a voice and who aren't seen by society."
“If I'm not being challenged, if my brain is not being challenged, and my spirit's not being challenged, and I'm not trying to make my kid's world, and their kid's world a little bit better, than I wouldn't be sleeping well at night, or I wouldn't be able to feel the joy that I feel and the sadness that I feel. So it's part of making yourself whole.”
“I just think it took me awhile to get to this point of knowing it's okay to work really hard, and it's okay not to work.”
“You're supposed to be exactly who you're supposed to be, whether you stay home, or you work all the time, or whatever it is. You're all of those things.”
“We want to build a group of women who want to support each other and continuously open those doors for each other, because there are many things that we can all offer each other.”