Meet Our Founder/Executive Director

"By educating and empowering young girls with tools beyond traditional education, like self-esteem, confidence, leadership, teamwork, mentoring and philanthropy, we are developing a generation of women who will start in her community climbing hills, and will go out into the world and move mountains." ​Danielle Beerli 
Danielle Beerli, MSW, comes with a determined and motivated mindset, always believing that a girl can accomplish anything.  Having turned various childhood adversities into strengths, she decided to pursue a career in Social Work in order to help others; particularly coming to love the community aspect of Social Work and Service Learning. Danielle has over fifteen years experience in the Social Work field working with children of all ages and their parents. She even spent some time homeschooling her kids. Since her late teens, she has spent countless hours volunteering both in the U.S. and abroad from working with the homeless in Madrid to serving on the PTO. In late 2015, Danielle decided to pursue her dream of opening a women and girls center. She started Empower Her, Inc. to create local programming for women to be supported in their life paths as well as to open new doors and opportunities for girls and provide them with foundational prosocial and life skills. Aside from running Empower Her, Danielle is also an Adjunct Professor at Quinnipiac University teaching Introduction to Nonprofit Management. Danielle  is a mother of two and enjoys cooking, gardening, crafting, traveling and spending time with her husband and children. 

Meet Our Board Members

Michelle Schwenger, M.ED​​
​President

  • For the past 20 years has taught a variety of elementary grades and subjects in both New Hampshire and Connecticut
  • In her free time, she volunteers for many causes including cancer research, getting girls involved in STEM and environmental sustainability

Diane Michaelsen, ​LCSW, LADC
Secretary

  • Professional and Educator in the behavioral health field for over 30 years
  • She has long used the power of educating others to inspire folks to aspire to a vision of holistic health​​

Florian Beerli 
​Treasurer

  • Executive in insurance with over 25 years experience and a proven track record in succeeding with startup initiatives
  • Past and present volunteer and coach of soccer, baseball, softball and other community organizations

Danielle Beerli, ​MSW
​Board Member

  • Founder and Executive Director of Empower Her, Inc. 
  • Professional experience in Social Work, Program Development and Administration
  • Multitude of volunteer experience both in the USA and abroad

Kathryn Janofsky
​​Board Member

  • Executive with over 20 years experience holding various management roles
  • Supporter of many philanthropic causes such as education, hunger, homelessness, children's health and women empowerment

Anne DiFrancesco
Former Board Member

  • Founder of A & M Studios, Inc. focusing on strategic planning, targeted marketing and advertising solutions in print and web media
  • Marketing Counselor/Instructor for the Women’s Business Development Council (WBDC)
  • Past board member of FINE – the Entrepreneurial Network and Woman2Woman magazine