About Our Organization

EMPACT is a grassroots nonprofit organization awarded the 2026 Non-Profit of Distinction honor by Mayor Kevin McCarty’s office of the City of Sacramento, dedicated to bridging the gaps within system-impacted communities. Through advocacy, crisis response, and direct engagement, we work to address the institutional, systemic, and structural root causes of social inequalities.

Our Focus Areas:

✔ Social Justice & Crisis Response – Advocacy-driven activism to address urgent community needs.
✔ Youth Advocacy & Civic Engagement – Equipping young leaders with tools for empowerment and policy change.
✔ Sex Trafficking Prevention – Raising awareness and providing resources for prevention and survivor support.
✔ Gun Violence Prevention – Implementing strategies to reduce violence and promote safety.
✔ Mental Health Support – Providing resources to promote emotional well-being and resilience.
✔ Legislative Change & Public Speaking – Leading policy reform initiatives and amplifying impacted voices.

At EMPACT, we believe in community-led solutions, systemic accountability, and sustainable change. Join us in our mission to create a more just and equitable future.

🔹 Together, we make an EMPACT. 🔹

Mission Statement

At EMPACT, our mission is to empower children, youth, families, and underserved communities by amplifying the voices of those who have been intentionally ignored, deliberately silenced, and historically underserved. We provide prevention, advocacy, education, and trauma-informed support services that promote safety, resilience, and opportunity while addressing the root causes of violence, exploitation, abuse, and inequality.

Through Project TAKE and our other community initiatives, we work to prevent sex trafficking and youth exploitation, support victims and their families, advocate for children within educational systems, and strengthen communities through education, outreach, crisis response, and wraparound services. We connect individuals and families with critical resources, provide victim advocacy, court support, and ongoing case management, and collaborate with schools, law enforcement, healthcare providers, government agencies, and community organizations to create coordinated, community-centered solutions.

We believe prevention is the most effective form of intervention and that lasting change happens when communities are informed, empowered, and equipped to respond. Guided by compassion, lived experience, and a commitment to justice, EMPACT works to ensure every child is protected, every family is supported, and every individual has the opportunity to thrive with dignity, hope, and the resources needed to build a safer future.

MEET THE FOUNDER AND CEO

Leia N. Schenk is an esteemed social justice activist, victims advocate, community leader, business owner, founder and CEO of EMPACT. District 4 Commissioner for the Sacramento County Commission on the Status of Women and Girls. Named as the 2026 Fox 40 Remarkable Women as part of a nationwide initiative recognizing her influence to inspire, lead, and forge the way for other women. A Los Angeles native, Leia is an outspoken, focused, and sometimes controversial champion for civil and human rights. Her advocacy spans autism awareness, mental health, mass incarceration, crisis response, sex trafficking prevention, social injustices, and racial disparities.

With a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice, Leia’s career has taken her into juvenile intervention, state prisons, and social work. With over 20 years of dedicated service, she launched EMPACT in 2017—a grassroots movement designed to bridge the gaps between various communities within Sacramento County and beyond. EMPACT challenges systemic failures while exposing policies that perpetuate injustice, uniting people across cultural, socioeconomic, and geographical divides.

Leia is a disruptor of social norms, dismantling systems of injustice, and has made it her life’s mission to be the voice of the intentionally unheard and the deliberately forgotten. Through protests, lobbying, and demanding accountability, she fights for systemic change. In 2022, she developed Project T.A.K.E., an initiative aimed at educating the public about the dangers of sex trafficking and child exploitation.

Her relentless advocacy for autistic rights, her unwavering commitment to community empowerment, and her dedication to supporting other organizations have solidified Leia as a true change agent. She is known for provoking critical conversations and inspiring action. EMPACT is more than an organization—it is a movement where voices are upheld, uplifted, and empowered.

Big Ideas, Real Impact.

The work

 

  • Crisis Response & Victims Advocacy

  • School Site Support

  • Missing Persons Cases/ Sex Trafficking Prevention

  • Civic Engagement & Social Justice

  • Public Speaking

  • Autism Advocacy

  • Community Partnerships

  • Youth Engagement & Wellness Workshops