Our EmpowHERto team is made up of a group of dedicated staff and volunteers who are committed to helping young womxn and girls reach their full potential as leaders. We plan activities and programs, coordinate and host events, and encourage girls along their journey to becoming their best selves. We’re passionate about our mission.
Janeen Brown
Chair and Founder
Janeen Brown is the Executive Director and Founder of EmpowHERto. She is an advocate for the well-being of womxn, building self-confidence, and female entrepreneurship.
Previously, Janeen spent time managing a team for a television company, but felt she had a greater purpose: to help improve prospects for female leaders.
She hosted a number of events that brought together womxn of different backgrounds to communicate and help each other, but she wanted to have an even greater impact on their lives, which led her to found EmpowHERto. She became an entrepreneur in 2018 and has successfully created three companies. Janeen is constantly inspired by younger generations and has a drive to help young womxn succeed and achieve generational wealth. When Janeen is not hard at work, you can find her continuing to nurture her passion for mentoring younger womxn.
Rikki Leigh
Board Member
Rikki Leigh believes in the mantra “Advocate for Yourself. Champion Others.” She approached life and career from the same general perspective, the ethos —the only thing standing in your way is YOU!
She is the Career Manager for Navy Child and Youth programs and headquarters. In this role, she oversees and manages human capital initiatives, career development programs, and multi-million-dollar contracts for a global workforce.
She joined the Board of Directors for Veterans Drive in 2021 and is an active Auxiliary Member of the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association supporting veterans issues. She enjoys riding motorcycles, hiking, camping, and being outdoors with her family and three furbabies.
Her passion is helping others, and her heart is with helping young girls and womxn. She has mentored high school girls, young womxn, and adults in her various roles in nonprofit and government
She graduated from Chapman University with a BA in Organizational Leadership and MS in Human Resources. She is a current Doctor of Business Administration (Human Resources) student with Northcentral University anticipating completion in 2022.
Bobby Taylor
Board Member
Bobbie Taylor is the Director of Donor Services-Technical Operations for the Community Blood Center of Greater Kansas City.
She oversees all departmental process/project management, implementations, process improvement initiatives, automated collections and the Donor Records and Registration department. Bobbie is responsible for ensuring that all Donor Services processes and procedures adhere to FDA and other federal and industry regulations.
This year marks Bobbie’s 18th year in blood banking. During this time, she has been involved with and responsible for the implementation of three Blood Establishment Computer Systems (BECS), assisted with the development of two customer service programs, served on countless committees, performed thousands of collection procedures, recruited businesses to host blood drives and provided leadership to numerous staff and departments. Since 2017, Bobbie has served on the board of directors for Haemonetics Software User Group where she has held the role of treasurer and advisor.
Bobbie earned a bachelor in Business Administration from MidAdmerica Nazarene University. Bobbie lives in Roeland Park, Kansas with her husband and daughter.
Betsy Castro
Board Member
Betsy joined the Board of EmpowHERto – Florida during the Fall of 2020. With over twelve years of experience, Betsy possesses a broad set of skills in finance, operations, and organizational culture.
Betsy began her career in public accounting and continued her path in various corporate financial roles with large companies, such as Villeroy & Boch and McGraw Hill. Being a first generation, immigrant Latina, Betsy became the founding finance and operations lead for New World Preparatory Charter School – a charter school located in the Port Richmond area of Staten Island, NY which provides a high quality education to English Language Learners. That experience paved the way for a future career in progressive, non-profit leadership roles for organizations such as Princeton University, Innovate Public Schools, and Princeton-Blairstown Center – roles where she managed operating and capital budgets ranging from $1.1M to $3.2B. After spending over twelve years in nonprofit finance, specifically in startup, growing, and transitioning organizations, Betsy understands what truly drives and motivates people. She is a people strategist who partners with key stakeholders to ensure financial sustainability, operational excellence, a healthy and inclusive work environment, and agile organizational growth.
Her work in nonprofit leadership earned her the 2020 Harold L. Conover Leadership Award from her alma mater, Rider University, for exhibiting exemplary leadership qualities in a non-profit organization.
Betsy holds an MBA in Finance and a B.S. in Accounting from Rider University. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, traveling, reading, relaxing with her lazy dog, and taming her unruly garden.