This is a private academy with Grey Search + Strategy for the daughters/nieces/granddaughters of their workforce, clients, and many non-profit partners.

We’re excited to host this Virtual Empower Leadership Academy in resilience for girls in 5th-12th grade!

Empower recognizes that kids of all ages need a focus on emotional and mental wellness every day. Throughout our program, participants will be given the tools to increase their self-awareness, improve self-regard, understand that relationship building is the essence of happiness, and strengthen their outlook on life.

Developing leadership skills, building confidence, and strengthening resilience require training and practice daily. We provide a safe and interactive environment to learn, grow, and develop new skills. This interactive learning environment is engaging with worksheets, videos, and breakout rooms to talk with their peers about what they are facing today.

During this academy, participants will become certified in the Emotional and Mental Wellness of Empower@Home. Certificates will be emailed out at the conclusion of the program.

Empower Leadership Academy Agenda

Coaches

Laura Boyd | CEO, Leadership Delta

Laura Boyd has over 20 years of experience working with organizations to help them develop sustainable growth as organizations and the people within. She has been a leader on executive teams for large companies, emerging companies, and non-profits, as well as a business owner. She believes Leadership is the ultimate Delta for change, strategy, and growth in an organization. She is now taking her years of experience helping businesses become high-performance organizations.

Laura has a Master’s in Organizational Leadership and certification in change management. Along with her years of communications and sales success, she is perfectly suited to help any organization assess, strategize, and develop both leaders and teams for growth. She focuses her energy on professional services utilizing her years of experience as Chief Marketing Officer for LarsonAllen (a.k.a. CliftonLarsonAllen) and business development director at Froehling Anderson.

When Laura is not working with her clients, she enjoys spending time with her busy family, coaching volleyball, working out at the gym, and walking her dog. One day, she will master (well, maybe not master) the piano.

Peyton N. Owens, III | Senior Associate Athletics Director, Leadership Development and Strategic Partnerships | University of Minnesota, Golden Gopher Athletics

Peyton Owens is in his 13th year with Golden Gopher Athletics. He currently oversees Student-Athlete Development (all education provided to student-athletes, including career readiness, personal development, community outreach and risk reduction), Diversity & Inclusion, the M Club and our Women’s Golf program. Owens has been instrumental in the vision and implementation of Leadership U, which he has had oversight of since its launch. This collaboration with Land O’Lakes Inc. provides leadership development and emotional intelligence education and support to student-athletes, assistant coaches, head coaches and athletics staff. To support this initiative and others like it, he is responsible for cultivating, soliciting and stewarding donors for endowment and annual support of Leadership U, the W.I.L.L. program (Women Invested in Leadership and Learning) and more. Owens is also an ambassador for athletics on campus, bringing the voice of Golden Gopher Athletics to several critical groups. He is a member of the President’s Initiative on Preventing Sexual Misconduct, the Faculty Oversight Committee on Athletics (FAOIAC), and campus’ Equity & Diversity Subcommittee. His commitment to collaboration and strategic partnerships, both at the University and in our broader Twin Cities help champion all that is Maroon and Gold.

Owens is a graduate from the College of William and Mary with a Bachelor of Arts in Kinesiology, and later received a Master of Science in Sports Management and Leadership from Virginia Commonwealth University. He is a graduate of the NCAA Ethnic Minority Males and Females Leadership Institute (2007), as well as the University of Minnesota’s President’s Emerging Leaders Program (2009). Owens has served in various roles advancing the greater mission of the NCAA to include the Student-Athlete Affairs Advisory Board, facilitator for NCAA Leadership Conferences and the NCAA Student-Athlete Affairs Symposium, and was a member of the NCAA Peer-Review Team. Additionally, Owens is active in his community serving as a former board member for ACES (Athletes Committed to Educating Students) from August 2017 through September 2019, as well as a Board Member for the University of Minnesota Alumni Association. Owens currently serves as a Head Coach for Empower Leadership Academy, after serving as a Board Member previously from November 2015 to March 2018.

Kelly Taylor | Program Manager, Empower Leadership Academy | Girls Soccer Head Coach, Eden Prairie High School | Youth Director, Tonka United Soccer Association

Kelly Taylor is in her 13th year of coaching, training, and empowering students grades 2-12 as the Youth Director at Tonka United Soccer Association and as the Girls Soccer Head Coach at Eden Prairie, and is in her 4th year as Program Manager and Coach at Empower Leadership Academy. She has served in a variety of roles throughout her soccer coaching career. As a high school assistant coach Kelly was recognized as the Section Assistant Coach of the Year (2013 – Minnetonka HS and 2019 – Benilde St. Margret’s) and as the assistant coach, she helped two teams achieve Minnesota Class “AA” Soccer State Titles (2010 – Eden Prairie, 2013 – Minnetonka).

As a former student-athlete turned head coach, Kelly is deeply committed to the holistic development of her student-athletes and knows first-hand that the lessons taught on the field transcend sports and are critical life lessons they take with them and use forever. In continuing with her own growth and development, Kelly has received certifications from the National High School Federation and the 3D (dimensional) Institute focused on developing today’s student’s skillset, mindset and heart, and ways they can excel beyond sports.

Kelly graduated with a B.A from the University of Minnesota in 2010, where she spent her four years as a student manager for the Women’s Basketball Program. When Kelly is not working, she enjoys spending time on the golf course, the Minnesota lakes, and visiting family and friends across the country.

Kiara Buford | Behavior Specialist, Roseville Area High School