Empower Montana

03/18/2026

02/24/2026

haring a few of many photos taken at the 2026 Martin Luther King Jr. Day Community Celebration!
If you missed it, you can watch the entire event on YouTube, recorded by Missoula's Community Media Resource: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7SuYcBw7Qk

08/22/2025

EmpowerMT’s 2025-2026 afterschool club registration is now open! 🍂

Afterschool Fall programming for middle and high school youth runs September 15th through December 1st.

Interested youth can register at www.EmpowerMT.org/youth-form. Any questions, email [email protected] 📧

06/18/2025

🏳️‍🌈 SIGN MAKING PARTY!

Join us to make signs for the Missoula Pride parade!

Friday, June 20th from 3-5pm
320 E. Main St. at the *New* EmpowerMT office location

LGBTQ+ youth, families, and allies are all invited!

🎨 Art supplies will be provided, but people are welcome to bring their own.

06/18/2025

Walk with us in the Missoula Pride parade!

🏳️‍🌈 Saturday, June 21st meet at 11:45 am on Myrtle St. between 3rd and 4th St.

LGBTQ+ youth, families, and allies are all invited!

Email [email protected] with questions

06/18/2025

Missoula Juneteenth events to attend:

🌟Thursday 6/19, 10:30 am-12 pm at Fort Missoula
4th annual Juneteenth Celebration hosted by the Montana Black Collective

✨Friday 6/20, 5:30-7pm at Smithblack Furniture
Yoga to Address the isms co-facilitated by Erin Anderson and Sarah Fielding

"This is the reintroduction of the HOME series, first launched in spring 2022, rooted in cultivating wellness in our families and communities through big and small talk.

This is a pay-what-you-can or donation-based offering. All proceeds go to the Missoula Black Collective.

This session is grounded in practice, committed to change, and centered around conscious allyship. While the dialogue is especially directed toward white-bodied participants, everyone is welcome. Expect an open-hearted, honest, and sometimes uncomfortable space—where we begin to explore reckoning, accountability, and relational responsibility."

✨Saturday 6/21, 10-11 am at Residence Inn Missoula
Yoga Liberation Flow taught by Azur Milburn

"This is a pay-what-you-can or donation-based offering. All proceeds go to the Missoula Black Collective.

This powerful vinyasa-based offering is designed to help us move toward liberation in the body and beyond. Through breath, rhythm, and intentional movement, Azur invites us to reconnect to our highest selves. This is not just a yoga class—it’s a soul-centered practice space that affirms joy, rest, and radical healing. 🖤"

03/26/2025

It’s , and we’re celebrating the incredible women leading change in Montana’s communities! 🌟

We posed a question to women leaders from our partner organizations: 💬 “What fuels your leadership for your organization and cause?”

Heidi Wallace, Executive Director of Empower Montana shared:

"A deep belief in community, connection, and justice drives my leadership. As a sixth-generation non-Indigenous Montanan, daughter, mother, sister, auntie, and ally, I feel a profound responsibility and fierce urgency to model and foster equity and belonging. I’ve come to understand that true leadership requires a delicate balance of strength and humility—particularly as a white cisgender woman serving as Executive Director of an organization dedicated to creating a just and inclusive society. Guided by mentors and young leaders and working alongside brilliant, courageous, and dedicated colleagues, I strive to embody equity-centered leadership and foster environments where everyone’s strengths contribute to our collective impact."

We’re grateful for Heidi’s leadership and the transformative work of EmpowerMT in building a more just and inclusive Montana. 💙

👏 As we wrap up this series, we’re reminded of the power of women’s leadership in shaping a better future. To all the incredible women we’ve highlighted this month—and to the many more leading change every day— THANK YOU!

01/19/2025

From January 15 through February 28, view the winners of Empower Montana's Martin Luther King Jr.’s Youth Art and Essay Contest in the spectrUM Discovery Area on Level Two of the library. EmpowerMT will highlight winners at Missoula's Annual Community Celebration for MLK Jr. on January 20 from 4 to 6 p.m. and host a community dinner from 6 to 8 p.m. at St. Anthony's Parish.

Save the date to join EmpowerMT and Missoula Public Library on February 7 from 5 to 7 p.m. on Level Two for First Friday. Join us as we celebrate the artists and their displayed art and celebrate Black History Month with a digital display featuring African American inventors!

01/19/2025

Join us for Missoula's Annual MLK Jr. Community Celebration 2025

📍Monday, January 20th
4:00 pm-6:00 pm
St. Anthony's Parish- 217 Tremont St.
Also streamed LIVE on MCAT

The Missoula MLK Planning Committee invites you to commemorate the life & legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

🌟Schedule of Events:
⦁ Welcome: Martin Charlo & Damian Chase Begay
⦁MLK Jr. Day History: Murray Pierce
⦁Keynote Address: DeDreana Freeman
⦁Youth Keynote Address: Katie Carson
⦁The Lynn Schwanke Youth Art & Essay Contest: Presentation of Awards
⦁Emcee: Sierra Pannell
⦁Music: Lizzie Mills-Low, Josh Farmer, and the Missoula Community Choir
⦁Community Social & Dinner 6:00-7:30 pm: St. Anthony Parish Life Center (Donations Welcomed)