A Passion for the Mission
We believe grief is deeply human,
and support should be too.
Grief doesn’t start at the funeral. And it doesn’t end after a year. Still most people navigate it alone.
When the right support exists: People don’t have to search for answers.They find comfort in voices that understand. People don’t carry it silently.
They feel seen, earlier and more often. Care doesn’t end with a final call. It continues in ways that feel human and real.
And the systems around them begin to work differently. Support becomes accessible.
Connection becomes real. And grief becomes something no one has to face alone.
Our Origin Story
A "Special Operations" Team with a Special Connection to Grief
Empower Change is built by a team that understands grief from the inside out. What began as a shared personal experience revealed how large and underserved this need truly is. It led us to build something that didn’t exist. Our personal experiences shape how we think about care, and our professional backgrounds allow us to turn that understanding into something real, scalable, and lasting.
The People Behind Empower Change
Co-Founder
Healing Center President
Jen Shelby
Head of Market Development
Bret Blount
B2C Content &
Experience
Roderick brings experience from 5 Silicon Valley exits, including InfoSeek, IGN, Vudu, Skillz, and Tapjoy.
Co-Founder/CEO of ReadyUp ($7M raised), a UC Davis MBA mentor, and LP at Accumulator and First Momentum Capital.
He combines that expertise with personal grief experience to build accessible support at scale.
Recognized as one of the country's leading experts in peer-based grief support, Jeff brings 25+ years of experience scaling grief and mission-driven organizations.
Previously, he spent several years in the US Senate serving as DC Campaign Manager for US Senator John D. Rockefeller IV. He also transformed CT's largest United Way by creating a groundbreaking new innovation program, and served as the founding ED of a number of grief organizations.
Jen brings experience across nonprofit leadership, SaaS, and AI including roles at Apple, CableLabs and The Linux Foundation’s PyTorch Foundation.
A business advisor and mentor who helps keep Empower Change grounded in empathy, accessibility, and meaningful human connection.
Bret's skills across comms, product marketing, and video production have enabled him to build content systems and strategies for organizations like PlayStation, to global nonprofits such as SASB.
He leads the development of scalable systems and experiences that ensure Healing Center content is authentic and deeply personal.