by Harshitha Vijayshankar ('26)
With the rise of social media, many teenagers have taken to platforms like Instagram to spread awareness about important subjects. These include mental health, cancer, and domestic violence. SBHS students Junior Sreeja Addanki and Junior Gabrielle Chambers recently started a virtual non-profit organization called Empower Her(EH), dedicated to spreading awareness about issues revolving around gender inequality and ensuring women’s voices can be heard.
Chambers said, “Empower Her empowers the women of tomorrow.”
Empower Her’s target demographic consists of individuals of all ages and genders. Although their content is geared towards younger females, Addanki and Chambers ensure it is accessible to older women and males, too.
Addanki said, “Men should have a voice in feminism; it will keep them informed and aware.”
Empower Her closes the generational gap by “using the stories of older women to inspire young girls and boys alike,” according to Chambers.
EH’s content is a source of drive, hope, and motivation. Addanki and Chambers, Empower Her’s founders, act as co-presidents. They have been talking about the concept of feminism for a long time, as both individuals are passionate about closing gender inequality gaps and ensuring women have the same opportunities as their male counterparts. This passion stems primarily from their personal experiences, as well as those of women they look up to. Addanki is mainly focused on writing and researching, while Chambers is the creative force; she creates Canva templates and reaches out to other influencers, such as Alzheimer’s Awareness and Embrace Equilibrium.
In the future, they would like to travel to women’s shelters and establish GoFundMe after conducting interviews.
Chambers said, “We [also] want to donate period products to women in impoverished countries.”
They currently do not have any means or reason to fundraise, but if they ever generated profit, they would send it to women in need, thus staying true to their central mission.
Addanki and Chambers started Empower Her to make an impact on their community. In the future, they would like to make Empower Her a real organization as opposed to a primarily virtual one. Empower Her certainly has the potential to create a lasting impact on society. Their content on Instagram and TikTok reaches a wide range of audiences. They have a variety of segments that they use to engage people, including Women in Politics and Interviews with their peers.