Class of 2025
EmpowHer Camp Mentors
Meet the women and feminine-aligned people with disabilities serving as the support system for EmpowHer Camp Class of 2025!
Abby D.
Mentor In Training - Rhode Island
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take!"
Abby would describe herself as adventurous because she's always up for trying new things and loves to go new places. One thing she's proud of is receiving the Most Outstanding Senior Award for 2024 from her high school. She is most looking forward to meeting new people and greeting old friends. She wanted to become a mentor-in-training because she's very passionate about all things disability-related and really wants to give back to the disability community. As someone who was in their shoes last year, she hopes to connect with the Young Leaders and help them achieve incredible things. She likes a wide variety of music; while she doesn't have a specific favorite artist, she particularly likes music from the 80s, early 2000s, and generally upbeat songs. She enjoys writing, baking, going new places, and spending time with friends. Additionally, she loves learning other languages and got her Silver Seal of Biliteracy in Spanish this past spring.
Abby R.
Mentor - Massachusetts
“Because you were lied to does not mean that everything is a lie. Do not take the crimes of those who have manipulated us and put them at the feet of the world. It’s our time to write the story—and we’re going to make the world how we want it.”
- Brennan Lee Mulligan
Abby describes themself as enthusiastic because she is always ready to hop in wherever and whenever needed. She takes pride in the small but mighty community she has built on their Twitch channel where individuals feel empowered to be themselves and forge friendships across the globe. They eagerly anticipate reconnecting with old friends, making new ones, and witnessing young leaders discover the power of interdependence. With a lifelong connection to the disability community, EmpowHer Camp holds a special place in their heart. For several years, she has returned to contribute to making it a supportive space for disabled girls, women, and non-binary individuals. Their downtime involves quality moments with their cat Apollo, gaming sessions with friends on Fortnite and Stardew Valley, and diving into podcasts from The McElroy Family. Her day job is at Able South Carolina, a Center for Independent Living, where she is part of a team collaborating with various agencies to develop a disability-led transition model for high school students preparing to enter adulthood.
Bridget
Ally - Massachusetts
"What other people think about you is none of your business." - Brandi Carlile
Bridget describes herself as silly; she likes to laugh as much as possible because sometimes things are hard and laughter makes everything better. She is proud of returning to school in 2023 to get a Master's Degree. Her hobbies include reading, playing video games with friends, and playing with her son. She is excited to attend camp this year because she enjoys singing songs around the campfire and likes to help young people learn new skills.
Chrysanthemum
Mentor - Maine
"Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
Chrysanthemum describes herself as mainly cool and calm. She fluctuates between creative bursts and moments of fatigue, and she thrives on creative endeavors, including arts and crafts, music, and spontaneous singing. She is proud to have started the movement of getting Hot Topic stores nationwide to take a look at their accessibility and make changes. She is looking forward to hanging out with some really cool people and enjoying new experiences with everybody! Her interest in Camp stems from her challenging upbringing with Tourette's syndrome, navigating life without peers who shared her disability. This isolation, both for herself and her supportive mother, motivates her advocacy for inclusive resources like Camp. She believes passionately in supporting younger disabled individuals, aiming to provide the understanding and community she lacked. This will be her first time at any gathering specifically for disabled girls, women, and femininely aligned individuals. She is really looking forward to this experience, eager to meet others who are like her and who understand their side of the world a little bit better than most. She thinks the world needs a lot more disabled advocates, and she is honored and extremely happy to be part of helping the next generation of voices rise up!
Curran
Camp Leader & Chef - England
"Maybe IDK, but maybe that's okay."
Curran describes herself as beautifully-chaotic. She is an occupational therapist based in England and is proud to have successfully moved to a new country alone for graduate school and to be pursuing her career goals there. She loves listening to music by Mt. Joy, Little Simz, Jungle, Tierra Whack, Ultimo and loves traveling and exploring street art in the different places she visits. Curran is looking forward to seeing all the young leaders start the program as strangers and quickly bond as a family and to make sure everyone eats good!
_jpg%20.png)
Gabby
Mentor - New York
"I will not have my life narrowed down. I will not bow down to somebody else's whim or to someone else's ignorance." - bell hooks
Gabriella considers herself a fashionista because she likes to wear colorful clothes. One thing she is proud to have accomplished is learning to live with her disability and becoming the CEO of her life. She looks forward to playing campfire games and helping to cook food. She chose to become an EmpowHer Camp mentor because she wants to make a great impact on young leaders as a mentor and learn more about their human experiences. Her favorite music artists are Burna Boy, Yemi Alade, Libianca, Asa, Coco Jones, Iniko, and Nana Fofie. Her hobbies include writing spoken word poetry, crocheting, singing, and dancing to music.
Katy
Mentor - New York
“Just do it."
Katy describes herself as analytical. She is proud of the fact that she has managed to grow tomatoes in her apartment. She has been involved with DEN since the beginning and wants to offer connections to girls with disabilities. She is most looking forward to walking and chatting with the young leaders this year at camp. She loves dance pop and house music. Her hobbies include learning anything, participating in amateur radio field day, watching her plants sprout, walking her dog, and arranging dog play dates.
Kelly
Ally - Pennsylvania
"Don’t borrow trouble."
Kelly describes herself as curious because she’s always excited to learn and try new things. Looking back over the past few years, she views how she has grown as a great accomplishment and she is proud of who she is today. Parker McCollum and Avril Lavigne are her favorite music artists. Her hobbies include group activities outdoors and watching sunsets. She’s happy to be joining camp for a 3rd summer; she has always wanted the opportunity to help at a camp, and camp has a connection to what she does for work. She is looking forward to meeting the new young leaders and seeing them bonding during campfire time.
Laura
Mentor - New York
"I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I’ll go to it laughing." - Herman Melville (Moby Dick)
Laura describes herself as intuitive; she is good at "reading the room" and figuring out people. She is a transracial adoptee living with ADHD in upstate New York and she works for a New York-based disability advocacy organization. She is really excited about sharing the joy of camping, hiking, and being outside. As a mentor, she looks forward to doing everything she can to facilitate young leaders' self-discovery, growth, and pride. Her favorite music artists are The Cure, Limp Bizkit, and the A Night at the Roxbury soundtrack. Her hobbies include spending time with friends and family, catching a big fish, planning a vacation, and walking her dog.
Lavender
Mentor - New York
"Moving forward without knowing a specific destination can lead to some pretty remarkable adventures." - Rhett & Link (Book of Mythicality)
Lavender describes herself as earnest - when she’s committed to something, she’s committed to it, whether that means persistently working to accomplish a goal or consistently living out a value. She is very proud of all the growth she’s made in general as a person over the past year, but especially of the formation and solification of her Disability identity. In her free time, she’s probably streaming on Twitch, talking about neurodivergence, or playing games like Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, and Fortnite with her friends! This will be her first time at EmpowHer Camp, and she’s so excited! She is incredibly grateful to Disability EmpowHer Network for all the ways they’ve helped her grow - she participated in EmpowHer Expressions in the Fall of 2023 and felt her confidence skyrocket, especially after spending time with and learning from so many other disabled women and femme-aligned people. She is eager to provide a similar type of support to this new group of Young Leaders and to help them step into the power that already exists inside them.
.jpg)
Lilian
Mentor to the Mentors - Maryland
"All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you."- Gandalf
Lilian describes herself as artistic; everything has revolved around arts and crafts and creativity since she was little. She started her own small business, which is still going medium-strong at 3.5 years in. Chappell Roan is her queen right now; she also loves soundtrack music. In her free time, she loves spending time with her cats, making whimsical pottery, hanging out with her nieces and nephew, and crocheting. She enjoys bonding with everyone at camp. Her passion led her to support the future generation of youth with disabilities, letting them know they are worthy and valued humans.
Mia
Mentor In Training - New York
"Never give up.”
Mia describes themself as playful: they enjoy any kind of game, from video games, to board games, to card games! She is very proud of the fact that she recently built an entire PC. They are looking forward to meeting new people and hopefully making some new friends. She became a Mentor in Training because she enjoys helping others and recognizes that although people are sometimes limited by what they can physically do, there are still lots of things that they are capable of. They enjoy the entire playlist from the movie "The Greatest Showman," as well as songs from Imagine Dragons. In her free time, she loves streaming, helping others, hanging out with friends, and listening to music.
Saphire
Mentor - Ohio
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible." - Walt Disney
Saphire describes herself as an optimistic individual with a passion for understanding the world and its people. In her free time, she enjoys reading, listening to music, engaging in meaningful conversations, traveling, and exploring new places. Volunteering is also something she loves to do. She first heard about DEN's leadership camp and immediately fell in love with the idea of connecting with young leaders. It allows her to offer this generation something she never had herself—a deep understanding of their unique perspectives. She has achieved many things, but she is most proud of her next goal: to help build a bridge with future generations, eliminating the feelings of loss and uncertainty that many disabled girls may experience. She looks forward to being surrounded by a fantastic group of people and building connections with the next generation.
Sophie
Mentor to the Mentors - Maine
"You’re on the right path if you are intentionally trying to reduce the gap between your values and your actions" - Mariame Kaba
Sophie describes herself as unfinished because she is learning new things and finding new parts of herself every day. She is proud of the community of disabled women and feminine-aligned folks that we have built and continue to build through Disability EmpowHer Network, and she is looking forward to being with and learning from a lot of incredible disabled women and people. She decided to be a mentor for EmpowHer Camp because she wanted to help more disabled women and fem-aligned people feel empowered and find community (and also to help people understand the right way to make a s’more). She loves her dogs, baking, being with her family (both biological and her chosen family), and being in a theater right before a play or musical starts.