Who We Are
Body Empowerment Project is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established in 2021 to help empower youth to find body acceptance and self-worth. The organization works to prevent eating disorders in adolescents, specifically in populations that lack access to treatment, representation, and preventive care. Our primary goal is to reduce healthcare disparities and promote equitable access to a novel community health intervention.
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Our Mission
Our mission is to decrease eating disorder risk in adolescents and equip them with the skills to live peacefully and healthfully in their bodies through meaningful, near-peer interactions.
Our Vision
Our vision is to fundamentally transform the way youth across the nation define their self-worth and shape discussions about health and wellness.
What We Do
EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS
Body Empowerment Project runs educational workshops for middle school, high school, and college students about body image and self-esteem in order to decrease eating disorder risk. The organization offers two main programs: our Youth Program, which targets youth in Philadelphia with pilots in California, and our College Program targets college students across the country.
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PROFESSIONAL TRAININGS
The organization additionally works to promote eating disorder awareness and prevention by hosting professional trainings for teachers, nurses, and faculty from the Philadelphia school district. Through these trainings, we equip school faculty and staff with the skills to address body image and disordered eating concerns among their students.
Why We Do It
Eating disorders have the second-highest mortality rate of any mental illness in the United States, surpassed only by opioid addiction. Despite common stereotypes and misconceptions that portray eating disorders as a problem primarily for thin, white, affluent women, eating disorders actually affect people of any gender, race, age, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.
The good news is that eating disorders are preventable. The Body Empowerment Project works to address eating disorder risk in youth by improving their body image and self-esteem, two major contributing factors in the development of these illnesses. By equipping students with the skills to talk about body image, health, and wellness, we are creating supportive communities of confident and capable young people.
Amanda Moreno and Christina Miranda, our co-founders, met during their first year at the University of Pennsylvania and quickly became close friends. Through their work with Project HEAL, they raised awareness about eating disorders on campus, but soon realized that prevention efforts were just as essential as increasing access to treatment. Motivated by the impact of disordered eating, body image struggles, bullying, and social media on Philadelphia youth, they collaborated with nurses, teachers, principals, students, and experts at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to design a community-centered prevention program. In July 2021, the Body Empowerment Project officially incorporated as a nonprofit after piloting the program in two schools and winning Penn’s President’s Engagement Prize to expand their work. Since then, BEP has continued to grow, launching its own curriculum, expanding programming to younger students, and building a full-time staff. Today, Amanda and Christina serve on the board, and BEP is led by Executive Director Clara Pritchett and Program Manager Susan Robinson-Cloete.