About us
Empowered Education was founded on the belief that access to knowledge about how institutions work is as teachable as any academic subject — and far too rarely taught to the students who need it most. This work is driven by research, with a clear goal: legislative and social impact in primary and secondary education.
Our mission
"To advance equity in education by equipping young people with the social capital, professional knowledge, and AI literacy they need to navigate higher education and the workforce — and by helping institutions build the policies, practices, and culture that make that navigation possible. Our work is guided by research and oriented toward lasting legislative and social change in how primary and secondary education systems support students."
Founder
Theodore L. Barnes, M.S.Ed.
Founder & Executive Director, Empowered Education
Assistant Professor of Career Development
Current roles
Education & credentials
Theodore Barnes did not arrive in higher education with a roadmap. He arrived with a B.A. in Criminal Justice — Law and Policy from Benedictine University and the same questions that millions of first-generation and underrepresented students carry: how does this system actually work, who gets to succeed in it, and why does nobody just say that out loud?
Those questions were never purely academic. His undergraduate focus on law and policy planted the seed of a career-long commitment — not just to understanding how systems operate, but to changing them. He pursued an M.S.Ed. in Higher Education Leadership and Curriculum Development at Purdue University, building the scholarly and practical foundation to work inside institutions with the explicit goal of making them more navigable, more equitable, and more accountable.
"I was one of the students who didn't know the rules. I figured out the system piece by piece — through trial and error, through mentors who took a chance on me, and through hard lessons. That experience is the curriculum. Everything Empowered Education teaches, I had to learn the hard way first."
— Theodore L. Barnes, M.S.Ed.His career moved through enrollment management — building a campus in Rockford, Illinois at the University of Phoenix, then serving as Associate Director of Admissions at the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work. Each position gave him a sharper view of the same gap: students with real ability, arriving at institutional thresholds without the knowledge of how to cross them.
Barnes is a published scholar and research scientist pursuing a doctorate at Loyola University Chicago. His research focuses on equity and agency in higher education, and his work is oriented from the start toward legislative and social impact — not just academic contribution.
Organizational history
Founded
Empowered Education incorporated as a 501(c)(3)
Founded with a focus on career mentoring — connecting students with professionals through job shadowing, workshops, and social capital education.
Program development
Bridge Mentoring Program and Capital Workshop frameworks developed
Core near-peer mentoring model and two-day college student training workshop designed and refined.
Expansion
AI literacy added as a core organizational pillar
AI equity recognized as the next frontier of educational justice. Consulting, policy design, and curriculum development added to the mission.
Curriculum & products
AI Career Explorations course developed and deployed
Full 10-module undergraduate AI literacy curriculum built, taught, and packaged as the foundation for consulting and products.
Now
Website relaunch and national expansion
Full consulting practice, curriculum products, and renewed youth programming — building toward a brick-and-mortar facility, international reach, and legislative impact.
Our values
Every program, product, and policy is designed asking: who does this serve, who does this miss, and who does this harm?
Getting in is not the same as succeeding. Social capital, professional norms, and institutional literacy make access real.
Programs matter. Policy matters more. Our work aims at systemic change in how primary and secondary education systems are structured.
Powerful and useful — and biased, unreliable, and harmful when deployed carelessly. We teach both truths, always.
A person who recently navigated the path carries knowledge no administrator can replicate. Lived experience is a form of expertise.
Consulting and products are not the mission — they fund it. Every paid engagement underwrites free programming for students who cannot pay.
Get involved
Whether you are an institution, a funder, a student, or a researcher interested in collaboration — there is a place for you here.