Practitioner and CEO of Empowered Educator, a TEDx Ithaca College speaker, Jen Rafferty has orchestrated programs that not only stand on the forefront of research but ignite a cultural self-care for teachers and school leaders nationwide.
Through a focus on reducing burnout and transforming how educators show up for themselves and their school community, Jen utilizes her insatiable curiosity to develop the most up-to-date and relevant programs in cognitive neuroscience and leadership. She is deeply committed to inspiring school leaders and teachers to discover their voice and maintain healthy longevity throughout their careers.
Today, Jen Rafferty is rewriting the story of education—one empowered educator at a time.
Today, Jen Rafferty is rewriting the story of education—one empowered educator at a time.
Since I was young, I always wanted to be a music teacher. Honestly, I considered it more like a calling instead of a choice. I loved music, particularly singing, and wanted to inspire others to discover their voice. I taught middle school choir for 15 years in the public schools.
It was a lot of fun, and it felt important to provide students with a safe space to express themselves and be creative. Eventually, I started conducting honors choirs across New York State, presenting at national conferences and published a book.
You founded Empowered Educator with a purpose to take care of the adults in the school space, so that our children are better supported. Was there a specific moment in time which you realized this was your mission?
It was the experience of the COVID that helped me make the shift. Teacher stress wasn’t new, but the pandemic highlighted how bad it was.
There was a large gap between what teachers needed and the support they were getting, and I wanted to build a bridge. The well-being of a school is dependent on the well-being of its educators, so I wanted to help take care of the people who take care of our kids.
Through a focus on reducing burnout and transforming how educators show up for themselves and their school community, Jen utilizes her insatiable curiosity to develop the most up-to-date and relevant programs in cognitive neuroscience and leadership.
She is deeply committed to inspiring school leaders and teachers to discover their voice and maintain healthy longevity throughout their careers.
Today, Jen Rafferty is rewriting the story of education—one empowered educator at a time.
Your career began as a middle school educator before shifting into your role as CEO of Empowered Educator. What led you to pursue a career in education?
Since I was young, I always wanted to be a music teacher. Honestly, I considered it more like a calling instead of a choice. I loved music, particularly singing, and wanted to inspire others to discover their voice. I taught middle school choir for 15 years in the public schools.
It was a lot of fun, and it felt important to provide students with a safe space to express themselves and be creative. Eventually, I started conducting honors choirs across New York State, presenting at national conferences and published a book.
Teachers are incredible humans with big hearts, but they are not superheroes. How do you believe the narrative that teachers are super-human harms both the adults and children in the school space?
Teachers are often referred to as superheroes and while this sounds like a good thing, it can be a dangerous narrative. Teachers are heroes, yes; and they are very human. When we compare teachers to these immortal and indestructible superheroes, we create a story that perpetuates the idea that needing anything is selfish.
So as not to be perceived as selfish, teachers often struggle with taking a much-needed sick day, asking for help and support, or even prioritizing a bathroom break. This is not sustainable, and it is certainly not the type of modeling we want for our students. Truly, the most generous thing you can do for your students is take care of yourself.
How do you prioritize your health and wellness as the CEO of Empowered Educator so that you remain in optimal mental, physical, and emotional condition?
I practice everything I teach, and the impact of my company is related to my own health and wellness.
I think the biggest shift for me has been in the way I define my success. I used to think success was determined by external factors: how much money was in my bank account, how many hours I worked, or when I was a student, how many A’s and awards I earned.
But with success constantly being external, I was always chasing it. And when success is external, even if we get it, we’re back chasing again because we aren’t chasing the thing, we’re chasing the feeling. Now I define success as feeling the way I want to feel for as many hours of the day as possible.
This informs the way I structure my day, interact with clients, and how I spend my time. It keeps me focused on my priorities which always come down to my own self-regulation and choosing actions that align with feeling the way I want to feel.
What is next for you and Empowered Educator?
Our next big adventure is an online Summer Camp for teachers called Redesign Your Mind. Here we will guide educators as they dive into the neuroscience of themselves! We want teachers to understand their brain because they are quite literally brain-changers! Educators that come to Summer Camp will go back to school with trauma-informed strategies to use in their classrooms, a deep understanding of navigating conflict with ease, and mastery of the social/emotional learning benchmarks. We are so excited to bring this opportunity out into the world and continue our journey to make transformational, generational change.
For more information on Empowered Educator, visit empowerededucator.com