emPOWER student leaders
POWER (the People’s Organizing Weekend Empowerment Retreat) is an amazing and high-energy gathering of student advocates who gather for a weekend to learn together about organizing and collective action. The organizers and guest speakers brought in reflect the diversity of Huskies, and it's truly a one-of-a-kind experience.
The goal of POWER is for student advocates to create spaces strategically and effectively for intentional and culturally specific planning focused on coalition building while allowing participants to work as allies and collaborators.
POWER has been a decade-long tradition of empowering students to use their voices. Keys to the weekend include building leadership, learning to leverage tools for communication and advocacy, creating coalitions of students across interest groups, and focusing on issues relevant to student life and communities in which students are a part. Students become adept at identifying issues, advocating for a cause, and creating viable solutions. They also build a coalition of caring students who share their belonging on campus and in their community.
We are a collective, reflecting the diversity of student groups and leaders.
Past POWER participants have created the Communiversity Garden, helped make NIU more welcoming to UndocuHuskies, activated the PERIOD Project (supplying free menstrual produces in NIU bathrooms), advocated for Huskie Harvest and the Huskie Food Pantry, and led a campaign for an Indigenous Resource Center on campus.
$25
POWER Up
Get folks started with a gift of $25 - to have sweatshirt for POWER participants
$50
POWER Nap
Get us on the map - help host an amazing organizer from out of town for a night at HSC hotel
$100
POWER Tool
Provide much-needed snacks and coffee to keep folks going through the high-energy weekend
$250
Super POWER
Help us offer an honorarium for a hands-on workshop with a dynamic organizer who is in the world making a difference
