About EmpowerED Tutoring

Where Every Mind Belongs

EmpowerED provides personalized tutoring and educational support for children, teens, and adults in Champaign-Urbana. We combine academic instruction with support for the confidence, organization, and self-advocacy that help learners move toward their goals.

We believe every learner deserves to feel understood, respected, and capable.

Our Story

EmpowerED was founded by two sisters—a certified teacher and a licensed social worker—whose personal experiences helped shape the support we provide today.

As neurodivergent learners with late diagnoses, we experienced challenges that often went unnoticed or misunderstood. Organization, emotional regulation, and keeping up with expectations could take more effort than others realized.

Access to support, accommodations, and a better understanding of ourselves changed how we approached learning. It also helped us recognize our strengths and advocate for our needs.

We created EmpowerED to offer the encouragement, understanding, and individualized support we wish we had received earlier. Our work brings together our professional experience and our belief that learning should make room for the whole person.

Meet Our Founders

Marina Taylor

Co-Founder | Educator

Marina helps learners build academic skills, confidence, and strategies that work for them. As a neurodivergent educator, she brings personal understanding to the challenges students can face and creates a supportive space where learners can ask questions, explore their strengths, and grow.

Alexis Taylor

Co-Founder | Social Worker

Lexy helps learners build confidence, self-awareness, and skills for navigating everyday challenges. Drawing on her social work background and experiences as a neurodivergent learner, she centers connection, emotional well-being, and self-advocacy in her approach.

What Our Approach Looks Like

  • We learn about each person’s interests, strengths, goals, and experiences with learning. Families and adult learners help shape the priorities we work toward.

  • During a session, we might break an assignment into smaller steps, model a strategy, practice a skill together, or use visual tools to organize ideas.

  • We adjust the pace, explain concepts in different ways, and make room for breaks or movement when helpful. Learners can ask questions, share preferences, and tell us when something isn’t working.

  • We help learners understand which strategies work for them and practice using those tools beyond our sessions. We revisit goals together and recognize progress along the way.

Let’s Get to Know You!

Tell us what you’re looking for, what has been challenging, and what you hope will feel different. We’ll explore how EmpowerED can support your next step.