EmpowerMT believes that each of us plays an individual role in creating a community that is safe, welcoming, and inclusive of all people.
Community
Diversity Day
A History: Empowering youth leadership is central to the mission of EmpowerMT. On April 12, 2010, Missoula’s city council passed a non-discrimination ordinance protecting community members from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. EPIC, EmpowerMT’s afterschool leadership development program for 4th-8th grade students, played a crucial role in activating the community to support the ordinance. The youth proposed an annual day of celebration and recognition of all that makes Garden City vibrant and unique and Missoula Mayor John Engen officially proclaimed Diversity Day. On the weekend of April, hundreds of Missoulians come together to show their commitment to making our city inclusive and welcoming for all.
Diversity Day offers a unique experience for local young people to get involved and have a voice in every facet of the event – visioning, planning, coordinating, and performing. Each year features an eclectic mix of youth talent and performances and speakers. This year’s Youth Keynote Speaker was Cecelia Spencer, who gave a moving and joyful address on the 2025 theme, creative resistance.
Youth Lead Now awards: In 2019, we created the Youth Lead Now Awards to celebrate Youth leadership and activism in Montana. The power of youth leadership is essential in creating positive change. Since 1998, EmpoweMT has seen young leaders transform their schools and communities, including creating Diversity Day! Montana is full of powerful youth-led action that deserves to be celebrated. EmpowerMT and our Youth Advisory Council are always inspired to honor some of these youth leaders at Diversity Day.
We are always moved by our awardees’ hard work, who create ripples of change without expectations of recognition or awards. We also want to recognize all the youth leaders making strides, big and small, to create a more safe and inclusive future across Montana.
The Youth Lead Now Awards are a project of the Kathy Witkowski Youth Action Fund-A fund to exist for time immemorial to support youth leaders in action in their schools and communities.
How We Impact The Community
EmpowerMT’s community-based programming engages people across Montana to connect, teach, and learn together through events and dialogue that foster belonging, understanding, and collective action. Through annual events like Diversity Day, Missoula’s MLK Celebration, The Handoff Podcast, and community facilitation, we serve as a resource to develop comprehensive, place-based solutions to systemic barriers. We empower leadership, collaboration, and advocacy to drive community-wide equity and justice initiatives—strengthening community collaboration through upstream strategies that integrate prevention and intervention. By building authentic partnerships and shifting deeply held institutional beliefs that perpetuate oppression, we support communities in navigating division, finding common ground, and co-creating a more just and inclusive future.
Youth as Leaders of the Civil Rights Movement
Did you know that thousands of children marched for the Civil Rights Movement and helped end racial segregation? The Children’s Crusade was a famous march where hundreds of brave children marched to end segregationist policies in Birmingham, Alabama. Other children marched in Washington, DC too. Young voices can help us move forward into the kind of future we all want to see! This example might provide inspiration for the art and writing contest. Suggested ideas: We don’t have to march to help make a change. We can also help make a change through kindness and trying to help end bullying and racism among our peers. Students can write or create art about times that they were leaders, such as times they spoke out to help someone else, a time when someone helped them, or they can talk about ideas for how to keep moving society forward so that racism no longer exists.
