MEET THE TEAM
The Empowered Women's Circle team share
the vision of a better future for professional women.
We're driven by the mission that there is a better way for organizations to support their female workforce—allowing for greater collaboration between professional women and a higher return on investment for companies.
Leadership
Catherine Hansen, MD​
Founder, CEO
Practicing medicine in Canada and the U.S. while supporting an astronaut husband and 3 dynamic teens has catalyzed Dr. Hansen’s expansion from a beige office with stirrups to an expansive on-line global learning community of powerful and rising professional mid-life women.
The EWC was founded in 2017 after a conversation with her husband highlighted the essential role that women play as the rock and foundation upon which families, communities, corporate teams and a more humane world are built. It became immediately obvious that a 15-minute clinical visit was not what women truly needed to play their biggest game in a world that increasingly needs their feminine leadership. While pap tests and pelvic exams are (very) important, magnifying women’s collective brilliance has become Dr. Hansen’s true life’s passion.
Migdalia Hernandez
Program Coordinator/Operations
Migdalia specializes in operations management and is responsible for project development and the micro/macro operations for the EWC Leadership team and clients.
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Along with managing the day-to-day operations and administrative functions of the firm, she is also heavily involved in implementing communication & marketing strategy through CRM, CMS, and LMS platforms.
Migdalia is a powerful force in the workplace and exemplifies the EWC’s values of collaboration, respect and positivity, all of which encourages the EWC Team to succeed. She is inspired daily to make the workplace & world and more empowering place for marginalized communities. Migdalia is a proud Vanderbilt graduate, loves to read historical non-fiction and go on adventures with her 6-year-old Husky-Lab mix, Kane
Lisa Burchartz
Executive Coach
As a former Corporate Change Agent & Human Resources Business Partner with over 20 years of experience in high-performing senior leadership roles, Lisa understands how our 24/7 "always on" culture keeps many high-performing women overwhelmed and exhausted. After experiencing the effects of burnout and a debilitating illness that kept her bedridden and in pain for over a year, Lisa was forced into stillness for the first time in her over-scheduled, adrenaline-filled life. Relief came in 2017 when she discovered somatic modalities, mindfulness, and therapeutic coaching. The effects where so transformational that she redesigned her life and career from the inside out and now thrives on sharing these practices with others.
Somatic Stress Release™ is a holistic system to enhance body awareness and increase the capacity to complete biological stress responses. The intention is to restore and optimize your ability to adapt and navigate life with more ease and agency.
Advisory Board
Janiece Williams
Co-Founder & Executive Director, LeaderFlow
Janiece Williams has spent the majority of her career as an architectural designer, and recently began a new life chapter as the Co-Founder and Executive Director of LeaderFlow, a nonprofit with a mission to accelerate the pipeline to leadership for professionals of color in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. Janiece has a strong desire to help shape the experience of developing professionals as they navigate this industry, which she nurtured through her ongoing involvement in the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) and past leadership on the Executive Board for the Southern California Chapter. During her tenure, she was an integral part of launching the SoCal NOMA Diversity Equity and Inclusion Challenge in 2020 as the first architecture industry-wide structured DEI initiative as a response to battling the longstanding lack of diverse representation.
After participating in the first year pilot leadership development program in Los Angeles, she recognized the immense value in helping others prioritize their personal growth to cultivate a new generation of impactful leaders. LeaderFlow is now operating in Los Angeles, Seattle and Houston with plans to expand nationally.
Carolyn Swora
Human Spirit Ignitor
Carolyn is a trauma informed leadership coach, consultant and Human Spirit Ignitor that supports impact-driven leaders within purpose-led organizations to truly understand themselves so that they can lead from their most empowered and greatest version to drive real change.
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She helps leaders who are committed to real change uncover the human reasons they're not able to show up and lead in the way that they want to, reintroduces them to their true wisdom and power helping them to understand their own blindspots, and core strengths and gives them the very real, practical tools they need (and were never taught) to lead with confidence, compassion, vulnerability and inspire their teams to greatness.
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Committing to understanding trauma, your own lived experiences and how it impacts who you are, is committing to leaving the world (and the people around you) better off. Trauma-informed leadership is non-negotiable in today's complex and ever-changing professional world. Carolyn has seen first hand how this is the missing piece in every organization that's committed to impacting real, lasting change. She believes that together, we can change the world and the way we work and show up in it.