Our People

Cara Belvin is a social entrepreneur known for her role as Founder and CEO of Empower, a nonprofit organization for children and young adults who have experienced the loss of a parent.  Cara is an energetic and visionary leader and has expanded Empower from a local grassroots movement to an international nonprofit.  Inspired by the loss of her own mother Kit to breast cancer when she was 9 years old, Cara formed Empower in 2013 after a recognized need in the community to support children who had experienced the loss of a parent.

Cara is a visionary leader and holds a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Connecticut and an M.S. in Psychology from Tarleton State University.  She began her career as a School Psychologist in Temple, TX working with children with disabilities and later transitioned her career into nonprofit management. Cara frequently speaks on issues surrounding adversity, women’s empowerment, and social entrepreneurship. Cara’s efforts have been featured on CNN, The Today Show, ABC, PBS NewsHour with Judy Woodruff, and more.

Ann Marie, originally from Boston, currently resides in Los Angeles and received her undergraduate degree in Business Administration from UMass Amherst. Ann Marie spent her early career working in the private sector in Healthcare IT before coming aboard as Empower’s first Full-Time hire in January of 2020. Having experienced the loss of her beautiful mother Anita at the age of 10, Ann Marie is passionate about Empower and played an integral role in creating Empower’s charity runners program TEAM Empower, as well as taking us “East Coast to West Coast” when she led the charge to open the first Chapter outside of New England, the Southern California Chapter of Empower!

Ann Marie continues to to support Empower’s national and international growth and supports all aspects of mission and development. In her “spare time”, you can catch Ann Marie cooking, running or spending time with her family on Cape Cod.

Originally from Toledo, Ohio, Sam received her BA in Education from Kent State University and then made the move to the South Shore of MA where she obtained her Master’s Degree in Public Administration with a Nonprofit and Civic Leadership concentration from Bridgewater State University. She is a talented and compassionate professional with over 15 years of extensive experience in the nonprofit sector and youth development.

Sam was one of our first Empower volunteers in 2013 and worked closely with founder Cara Belvin to develop all mission and fundraising initiatives. Sam served as one of the first Mentors in 2015 when the Mentor Program launched. She is passionate about our mission and longed for an organization like Empower following the loss of her brave, beautiful mother Anne Marie when she was 17 years old.

Joanie Quealy joined Empower in 2014 as a volunteer and worked closely with founder Cara Belvin to build the only mentor program in the world for children in grief.   Joanie assumed a number of critical assignments in the early development of Empower, assisting with the establishment of not only the mentor program but the event series that today continues to build community for children and adults of parent loss.   Currently, Joanie serves as Empower’s Senior Mentor Program Coordinator and is responsible for all mentor training, screening, coaching and monitoring.

Joanie has over 30 years of experience as an RN in Pediatric nursing and in her tenure, Joanie provided health care and triage to undergraduate students at Boston College. While at Boston College she also played an active role in several health education initiatives specifically related to Women’s Health.  Joanie attended Colby Sawyer College and St. Elizabeth’s School of Nursing.

Ali Thomas is a dynamic leader and manager of all field coordinators across the globe.  Ali is a longtime friend of founder Cara Belvin and experienced the loss of her mother Doreen to cancer when she was 17 years old.  Ali joined Empower’s efforts as a volunteer in 2020 and later joined Empower as the Mentor Program Manager.  Ali’s passion is unwavering and was a driving force in the Empower expansion to serve all children of any parent loss.

Ali attended Eastern Connecticut State University and spent over 20 years building and developing teams in the public and private sector and worked with various leadership groups at the University of Oklahoma.

Grace was born and raised in a suburb outside of Philadelphia, PA and currently resides in Los Angeles. Grace attended Penn State University before moving to the West Coast to explore new passions. Grace has spent the last eight years observing and assisting in Social Media Management for her family’s non-profit foundation which honors her beautiful older brother Kevan who she sadly lost. After experiencing the loss of her brother, her desire to help and support others only grew, especially in the grief space.

Grace has always had a passion for lending a hand wherever needed and helping others. Her passion for Empower’s mission continues to grow each day and she looks forward to the love and support this organization will bring to others for many years to come. When Grace is practicing work-life balance, you can find her out for a run, spending time with her family, recording episodes of her podcast or walking her dog Kora!