Together Empowered Incorporated is an international network of women of color that provides support to women who have been targeted for sexual exploitation. Bertrina Olivia West Al-Mahdi founded Together Empowered in 2011as Black Ladies Inc.; in 2015, the title was changed to Black Ladies International after Al-Mahdi traveled to South Africa and observed how problematic sexual exploitation is abroad. In 2018 the organization was rebranded again to its current title. ¹

Activities

Together Empowered provides mentorship programs, social events, and professional enrichment programs for women of color. Its “human, social, and civil rights advocacy” program partners with left-of-center advocacy groups including Amnesty International and International Rescue Committee. ²

Leadership

Bertrina Olivia West Al-Mahdi is the founder and executive director of Together Empowered. Al-Mahdi is a Navy veteran and former State Department foreign service officer.

Al-Mahdi is also the founder of Out of the Box Counseling, Coaching, and Consulting. The counseling organization offers approaches for treating individuals, couples, families, and children. Out of the Box also offers life coaching which, according to its website, is provided by professionals. However, while the website for Out of the Box indicates a wide range of services provided by professional counselors and coaches, the staff listing only includes Al-Mahdi and two interns. ³

Finances

Together Empowered has a budget of less than $50,000 and is therefore exempt from filing a Form 990 or 990-EZ publicly available tax return containing substantial financial disclosures. ⁴

1. BlackLadiesInternationalInc. “Home.” Together EMPOWERED Incorporated. Accessed July 7, 2020. https://togetherempoweredinc.org/.
2. BlackLadiesInternationalInc. “What We Do.” Together EMPOWERED Incorporated. Accessed July 29, 2020. https://togetherempoweredinc.org/what-we-do/.
3. “Staff.” Out of the Box Counseling. Accessed July 7, 2020. http://outoftheboxccc.com/staff/
4. “Together Empowered Inc.” Internal Revenue Service. Accessed July 7, 2020.  https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/displayAll.do?dispatchMethod=displayAllInfo&Id=5581315&ein=813136016&country=US&deductibility=all&dispatchMethod=searchAll&isDescending=false&city=&ein1=81-3136016&postDateFrom=&exemptTypeCode=al&submitName=Search&sortColumn=orgName&totalResults=1&names=&resultsPerPage=25&indexOfFirstRow=0&postDateTo=&state=All+States