Empower Work is excited to welcome a new member to the Board of Directors, Tina Wie. She joins during a key moment in scaling our mission to improve the economic mobility and emotional well-being of vulnerable workers. Simultaneously, we celebrate Board Members Jyot Bawa and Emily Kramer who have been essential to getting us to this point, and who will be stepping into Board Emeritus Advisor roles. 

Since launching in 2018, Empower Work has taken a unique approach to improving the mental health and economic mobility of more than 400,000 historically marginalized workers through our national work text line, training programs, and data and insights that drive change. As we continue our growth towards our goal of serving 3M people, expanding the expertise of the Board is key.

Tina Wie is a seasoned executive with more than 15 years of marketing and operations experience. She received her BA in Economics from UC Berkeley and MBA from Harvard Business School. After beginning her career in economic consulting, she developed marketing expertise working in brand management at several Fortune 500 consumer products companies. After business school, she developed a passion for scaling high-growth startups and worked as the COO of Three Day Rule (a premium matchmaking startup backed by Match Group) until its acquisition, ran corporate communications and content marketing for BetterUp (an executive coaching platform currently valued at almost $5B), and served as a Marketing Partner advising portfolio companies at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).  She currently advises early-stage consumer startups and is the founder of Clean Beauty Group, a content marketing company that partners with leading beauty brands.  

“Tina brings a unique perspective to the Board,” Jaime-Alexis Fowler, founder and executive director of Empower Work said. “She has supported our mission as a volunteer, staff member, advisor, and now board member and as such, has seen our work, our impact, and opportunities for growth from a number of angles In each of those roles, she’s brought invaluable insight, deep curiosity, and incisive ideas. I’m excited to have her on the Board.”

Tina will deepen the expertise on the board, which includes Jen Burdick, Robert Gordon IV, Emmicia Bracey Swartz, John Bradley, Suprita Makh, Jennifer Habig, and Nancy Heinen. 

“Empower Work has been a leading organization with a unique and innovative approach,” Tina said. “No other organization is approaching worker challenges - or supports - in such a powerful and groundbreaking way. And doing it through living their values. I’m looking forward to contributing to help deepen and broaden Empower Work’s reach.”

Empower Work is grateful to Board Members Jyot Bawa and Emily Kramer who will now be stepping into a Board Emeritus role. Jyot, President of LA Gauge Company, is a founding Board Member, having been part of the Board since the organization incorporated. Emily, Marketing Advisor, Former Startup Marketing Executive, and Advocate for Equal Compensation, joined the Board in 2020 amidst extraordinary growth and challenges with COVID. Both have played key roles in helping Empower Work be where we are today.

“Empower Work’s approach and mission is—and has always been—rooted in workers’ needs.” Jyot Bawa said, “I’m honored to have been part of the organization the past 6 years and look forward to continuing to support as an advisor and champion.” 

We’re meeting the needs of the more than 60 million workers across the United States who lack access to resources and support for work and career challenges. Text line conversations about job search and job loss went from 13% of text line volume in 2018 to over 40% in 2024, and that has continued to grow over the course of this year. Over 78% of people are actively looking for work because they are dissatisfied, underemployed, or unemployed.

Empower Work is changing the way workers get support. Through our three pronged approach of direct support for workers’ well-being through our text line, training for volunteers and organizations to improve practices, and the use of data and storytelling to shift systemic structures, we’ve helped over 400,000 workers since 2018, with 94% of people reporting improved mental health after a conversation with a peer counselor. 

With Tina and our current Board, team, volunteers, champions, and workers we connect with - we look forward to the work to come to reach millions of people in the years ahead.