Interim Deputy Director

Kameryn Sampson, MSW

Education:

• Bachelor of Science in Child and Family Studies and double minor in Women & Gender Studies and Psychology from Louisiana State University

• Master of Social Work with concentration in Macro Social Work at the University of Houston

Experience: Kameryn spent about 5 years as a lead summer camp counselor for at risk youth in her hometown of LaPlace, Louisiana, where she worked with kids ages 7-13 years-old. She volunteered as a mentor for the Baton Rouge Boys and Girls Club of America, where she worked with two fourth grade girls, with whom she conducted activities that promoted self esteem and established a positive mentee-mentor relationship.

Kameryn became actively involved in women’s issues during the course of her undergraduate experience. She was a volunteer hotline advocate for STAR (Sexual Trauma Awareness and Response) and volunteered with the Iris Domestic Violence Shelter. Kameryn also was an Executive Board Member, holding the positions of Secretary, Events Chair and President over three years, for the Minority Women’s Movement–a group in which members advocate and provide networking, mentoring, community service, and overall fellowship experiences for female students on campus from minority communities. She was also actively involved in Volunteer LSU and held executive board positions with LSU Service Breaks.

Kameryn spent her senior capstone internship as Volunteer Coordinator Intern at Girls on the Run South Louisiana, a nonprofit that works to helped girls recognize their strength and star power that they bring to this world by facilitating a curriculum that incorporates running. She was active in recruiting volunteers to participate as coaches within the program, as well as recruiting volunteers for other opportunities, such as the Baton Rouge color run.

What I love about Girls Empowerment Network: What I really love about us is how dedicated we are to promoting self efficacy in girls, as well as how we maintain our culture in all that we do.

Self efficacy truly does set us apart from other programs, and helping girls recognize that they truly have the ability to change the world is so beautiful to me. It is of course important for girls to recognize their worth within their self esteem, but being able to take it that step further into their abilities is what is going to make these girls advance into leadership in all aspects of their world. Women and girls building their self efficacy is what is going to make this world change.

In regards to the culture here, it is so empowering to me to see that what we are facilitating is not only being demonstrated to the girls, but is also demonstrated simply between our interactions with our coworkers, as well as school champions, parents, and so on. You do not find many places of work that are truly dedicated to this, and that makes me feel so privileged to be afforded the opportunity to work with an organization like this.

Contact me if you have inquiries about:

• Questions/Feedback for Houston programs

• Houston partnerships

• Houston office general inquiries