Chamber Announces 2022 EMPOWER NEPA Women’s Leadership Conference The Chamber is pleased to announce its 2022 EMPOWER NEPA Women’s Leadership Conference will be held on Thursday, April 28 at Kalahari Resorts and Conventions in Pocono Manor, PA, sponsored by Geisinger. This year, EMPOWER will be bigger and better than ever! Themed Resilient, Together, the 2022 conference will feature even MORE dynamic speakers, total of 18, who will arm attendees with information, encourage them to pursue new opportunities, and inspire them to conquer current challenges. Offering multiple tracks, this year’s conference will also offer a new interactive wellness studio, an ever-growing vendor marketplace, small group meet-ups, mini sessions and an engaging event app. Some of this year’s speakers include Katie Leonard, Ed.D., president and CEO, Johnson College; Marianne Gilmartin, Esq., shareholder, Stevens & Lee; Sarah Effertz, owner, Blu Elefante Events; Lisa Rigau, RN, certified lifestyle medicine professional, and owner, Healthy Lifestyle Management; Elika Almeida, motivational speaker and life coach; Chelsea Manganaro, owner, Nearme Yoga and Nearme Café; Karen Darby, wealth management advisor, Jacobi Capital Management; plus more. EMPOWER is the premier Women’s Leadership Conference in NEPA and highlights the ability all women have to create positive change in their communities and in their own lives – both professionally and personally – while recognizing the extraordinary power that exists when women come together to support each other. Tickets sell out every year! Get them today. Tickets, speaker bios, and more information are available at here.
Jackie Kerekes – EMPOWER Wellness Presenter Owner, The Training Loft Wellness Presentation: POUND Pound is a fun, energizing workout developed through playing the drums. We use light-weight drumsticks to make some noise with a cardio jam session. This workout has you sweating while moving to the beat of energy-filled music. Whatever your fitness level is, join us! We sit, stand, and get on the floor to rock out and burn yours legs, arms, and abs. Bio: Jackie Kerekes is a National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) certified personal trainer and NASM certified fitness nutrition specialist. She is also group fitness certified through the Athletics and Fitness Association of America and has taught many different classes throughout the area. Her specialties include strength training, core strength, HIIT, Fit Factor, and Pound. Jackie has a life-long passion for fitness and nutrition and loves coaching individual clients and embracing positive results with them. Jackie’s personal training boutique, The Training Loft, located in Clarks Summit, offers one-on-one personal training, small group training, nutrition coaching, and some group classes. Recently relocating her studio and adding a smoothie bar that is open to the public, Jackie is excited to offer healthy, delicious options for a meal or snack on the go! Jackie believes fitness and nutrition fits into everyone’s life, no matter how busy. Exercise in some form every day helps the mind, as well as the body! Whatever your age or gender, there is a fit for you! As a proud mom to four amazing kids, Jackie has the drive and energy to pursue her dream of sharing a passion for fitness, nutrition, and wellness with the community. GET TICKETS
Maria Traino – EMPOWER Conference Speaker Owner, Inspired Studio Presentation: Get Out of Your Own Way Learn how to get out of your own way and intentionally design all areas of your life through brain-based transformation. Bio: Maria Traino is an award-winning, professional brand designer of nearly two decades. She founded Inspired Studio, a design and marketing agency, and is a certified NeuroCoach who works with entrepreneurs to intentionally define and design their version of success… from the inside out. Maria developed The Designer’s Approach, a step-by-step framework for brain-based transformation. Maria naturally approaches life and business challenges the exact same way she would approach a design challenge: with curiosity, creativity, and knowing that a solution always exists. Part of Maria’s secret for success has been understanding that her clients already have answers inside of them—it’s her honor, as a designer and a coach, to help them realize their uniqueness, shatter limiting beliefs, and intentionally create lasting transformation using the power of neuroscience. GET TICKETS
Jennifer Ciarimboli – EMPOWER Conference Speaker Owner, studio BE Presentation: Leading Mindfully: Personal and Professional Empowerment This session offers you practical, wholehearted tools for well-being that are grounded in the real world of the 21st century. Rooted in mindfulness, Jennifer offers simple tools for dealing with conflict, managing stress, leading cohesive teams, and creating cultures that thrive. Jennifer talks statistics on stress and burnout in the workplace, as well as information on how to counter these challenges, at home and at work. Bio: Suffering from burnout after nearly a decade in corporate sales, Jennifer Ciarimboli walked away from her career and her successes to transform her life. She embarked on a journey of deep study, training with world-renowned experts in yoga, the teachings of the Buddha, spiritual inquiry, and mindfulness meditation, opening her heart and mind to a new way of serving the world. Jennifer recognized that if she had access to mindfulness meditation years ago, she might have been better able to manage stress—and from this insight, studio BE was born. studio BE specializes in well-being based on mindfulness and mindfulness-based practices—including meditation, psychological inquiry, body integration, breathwork, and other alternative modalities—taught both on-site and virtually. The goal of the company is simple: to reduce suffering in the world. This is achieved by helping individuals cultivate their own inner-resources, resulting in happier, more resilient people. When these practices are embraced wholeheartedly within organizational culture, it opens the door to unlimited potential for better connection, deeper trust, and renewed creativity—this is the new face of the 21st-century workplace. GET TICKETS
Chelsea Manganaro – EMPOWER Wellness Presenter Owner, Nearme Yoga & Nearme Cafe Wellness Presentation: Yoga for All Come take a break to be present, relax, and get inspired to move your stiff body. This yoga class will be accessible to all levels from beginner to advanced, with an option to use a chair. Bio: Chelsea Manganaro (500RYT) is the owner of Nearme Yoga in Moosic & Peckville, Nearme Cafe, and NEPA Yoga Festival. She has created and expanded her businesses with the idea of connecting a community with the goal to spread as much love and knowledge of yoga and wellness as she can. Nearme Yoga & Cafe creates an environment where inclusion, consistency and community take priority – one yoga class, one coffee cup & Buddha Bowl at a time. Behind every small business there’s a real family, and Nearme Yoga & Cafe is no exception. Owner Chelsea Manganaro always had passion for hospitality in her professional and personal life, and brought her ambitious vision to the local community with the first location of Nearme Yoga & Cafe here in Moosic. Nearme Yoga is a creation sparked by passion and community needs. It is and will continue to grow and morph into what is needed in each and every community it makes it way to. Chelsea left her career with Lockheed Martin in 2019 to pursue this vision 100%. She believes that in a world of ceaseless innovation, sometimes taking the most basic of human needs and providing it to the community can make the most fulfilling life. Healthy, affordable and attainable food mixed with mindfulness and keeping our bodies healthy allows so many people to make their way to better versions of themselves. We have been able to help and change so many peoples lives for the better. This spirals way beyond a yoga class, it is just the start. Having the Cafe and store has allowed people to come and experience the look and feel of the yoga studio without the fear of actually committing to a class. Many people have started yoga because they were able to see the space before hand. Although the goal for the business was always to franchise, it really took COVID to shake up the business model and create what we call is our ecosystem. Find out all studio information at nearmeyoga.com and nearmecafe.com for cafe info. GET TICKETS
Talia Walsh – EMPOWER Wellness Presenter Owner, Quest Studio Wellness Presentation: LifeStretch: Learn How to Stretch for Life! Join Talia, level 3 fascial stretch therapy practitioner, for a guided mobility stretch class. It targets your body’s fascial system to get amazing results with no pain and no strain, allowing you to discover the best path for your body to become more flexible and relaxed. The class addresses the tension throughout your body and then reduces, rebalances, and releases it to help you feel better, move better, and perform better. All bodies welcome! Bio: Talia is on a Quest to inspire others, using her life experiences and knowledge, to become their best self in all aspects of their lives. As an exercise physiologist, entrepreneur, and business owner of two fitness studios, she focuses on empowering others to reach their goals using multiple tools touching on health, fitness, nutrition, goal setting, and mindset. Talia has a passion for speaking in corporate settings, understanding the importance of a healthy work environment, as well as empowering women and college students. Her audiences are captivated by her engaging style. She inspires, motivates, and ignites her audiences to embrace life and reach for their highest potential. Quest Studio is a specialty fitness studio and wellness center that’s been operating for 5 years. The newest location is a yoga studio located in a refurbished church. Talia also created Quest Studio On Demand to be able to impact others around the world. GET TICKETS
Edna Cementina – EMPOWER Wellness Presenter Owner, Emobile Gym Fitness Wellness Presentation: Zumba Fitness Zumba is a fitness program that involves cardio and Latin-inspired dance that incorporate interval training. It helps reduce health risks, maintain a healthy weight, strengthen your heart, and boost your mood. In this session, Edna will teach Zumba sentao – which uses a chair for support, balance, and as a prop. You’ll use your own body weight to firm and tone your arms, abs, and glutes – all while feeling the music and moving your hips the Zumba way. Bio: Edna Cementina is a certified group fitness Instructor who has been leading0 fellow NEPA clients in fitness for the past five years. Her gym – Emobile Gym Fitness – offers a range of classes including core, strength training, cardio, HIIT, STRONG Nation™, and ZUMBA!Currently, Edna holds certification for group fitness and personal training in American Sports & Fitness Association (ASFA), as well as certification in Zumba, Zumba Toning, Aqua Zumba, and the most challenging of them all, STRONG Nation™.Edna has taught classes in numerous fitness centers and gyms in the area, but nowadays, she’s only teaching at her studio located in Dunmore. “Teaching is not a job for me, it’s a fun way to get to workout and interact with a great group of people. I love my clients and the positive energy they bring to class,” Edna says. She believes there is never a bad day at the gym. Working out is not just to look good on the outside, but it makes everyone feel great on the inside. Edna is glad that now she can share this passion with others in her own fitness studio so they can experience great and challenging workouts in a more intimate setting, with 100% focus on them. GET TICKETS
Tina Welch – EMPOWER Conference Speaker Founder, Welch Performance Consulting Presentation: Oh, Look…a Squirrel! The Distracted Workforce and Strategies to Refocusing for Resilience People are experiencing an unprecedented level of distraction, and lack of focus in their daily lives. These issues don’t stay outside of the workplace. They impact productivity, safety, goal attainment, progress and quite frankly, enjoyment at work. This session will provide participants with an understanding of what causes distraction, strategies to help yourself become more focused, and leadership skills for you to coach others. Bio: Tina Welch is the founder of Welch Performance Consulting, a strategic human resources consulting firm that helps employers create great workplaces! Known for putting her heart and soul into the organization, Tina takes a practical approach when evaluating any HR system or process, ensuring that it is tailored to achieve the business strategy desired. Tina has more than 30 years of senior leadership experience working with for-profit, employee owned, non-profit, and public institutions in a variety of industries helping shape their organization’s culture and value system through strategic HR and OD practices. She brings all of this experience to bear when working with her clients so that organizations can learn from this experience and adapt the best ideas to suit their needs.Tina holds a B.S. in health policy and administration and an M.S. in human resources training and development from Penn State University, as well as the Senior Certified Professional certification from the Society for Human Resource Management. She has taught human resources management courses for various colleges and universities and is a frequent invited speaker for HR and career development courses, symposiums, and conferences. Tina continues her service to organizations through board membership with several private and community organizations. GET TICKETS
Stacey Nybeck – EMPOWER Conference Speaker Chief Operating Officer, Serve, Inc. Presentation: Let’s Talk About YOU! Diversity is more than just the law and HR; race and ethnicity. It includes culture, religion, age, gender, orientation, and abilities. Understanding your role in EVERY environment is essential to bringing about lasting change in our workplaces and our world. This discussion will help you self-identify your roles to better understand how every individual is an integral part of the bigger picture. Bio: Stacey Nybeck lives in the small town of New Albany, Pennsylvania…known for being the wreath capital of the world, and most recently, famous for when its library was washed into the middle of the road due to a flood that struck most of the town and local area. Currently, Stacey is the chief operating officer at Serve, Inc. – a day training facility for individuals with varying disabilities. Her ultimate goal is to add value to people to help them see their own value. She has worked for Serve, Inc. for 32 years, proud to have worked her way up as the secretary and now the chief operating officer. Stacey earned her bachelor’s degree and MBA while working full-time and raising kids. She loves learning new things and recently became a certified leadership trainer and coach, as well as a certified diversity trainer. Stacey’s proudest achievement (along with her husband of 31 years) is raising two boys who have become wonderful human beings and are now adding value to other people. She’s also proud to be a Mimi to four beautiful grandchildren. GET TICKETS
