About Us
The goal of EMPOWER is to equip transition-aged students with visual impairment living in rural communities, their families, and the transition professionals who serve them with virtual supports to improve postsecondary education and employment outcomes.
Reach out to us
info@empower.org
Our Team
Hilary Travers, Ph.D.
Vanderbilt University
Principal Investigator
Michele Schutz, Ph.D.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Co-Principal Investigator
Erik Carter, Ph.D.
Baylor University
Co-Principal Investigator
Emily Lanchak, M.Ed.
Vanderbilt University
Project Director
Katrina Dubree, M.Ed.
Vanderbilt University
Educational Consultant
Sam Preston, M.Ed.
Vanderbilt University
Educational Consultant
Our Research
As part of our work, we conduct research to understand the landscape of transition for youth with visual impairments, with an emphasis on understanding transition in rural contexts. This research is important for two primary reasons:
(1) it enhances the quality of our work, ensuring we develop resources and materials that are high quality, useful, and relevant to our target populations; and (2) it allows us to share our findings with the broader visual impairment field to educate others about the specific needs of our target populations.
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