EmpowerHER summit brings wellness and unity to women in Southeast LA

With the goal of strengthening the health, leadership and economic well-being of women and families in Southeast Los Angeles (SELA), the Bitter Woman Network hosted the 2026 EmpowerHER community summit over the weekend. 

The summit, which took place at Art Space in Huntington Park, featured various vendors and community organizations, as well as workshops centered on healing, civic engagement and empowerment. 

For Atalie Oliva, founder of the platform for first-gen Latina, Bitter Woman Network, hosting the summit in SELA, her hometown, was incredibly important, as she said many times women in unincorporated Los Angeles have to travel outside to access community events like this. 

“ It's an event that I curated with the heart of just giving back to the community, but also creating spaces where Latinas in SELA can come,” she said. “ Bringing us all together in a space shows us that we have so much more in common.”

A big theme of the bilingual summit was “healing generations,” which Oliva explained was a way to bring daughters, mothers and grandmothers into one single space where they can connect with each other and with other community members.  

Gloria Castaneda arrived with her 11-year-old daughter and participated in the various workshops provided at the free summit. She said that, as a mom, she does not always have the time and opportunity to make friends with other moms and women.  

“It is important for me as a mom to share the knowledge I gain here with my children,” Castaneda said. “It is important so that they can have options and opportunities.”  

Rosa Elena Benavides, founder of Speak Up Mujer, said the summit workshops were curated to foster vulnerability and hold anything emotionally heavy that participants might be carrying.  

“ It's beautiful because you see the young girls here and maybe they don't understand 100% of what's going on, but I know they're absorbing, they're seeing the potential. They're seeing women connect,” she said. “We're giving them an example of what they can do and how they can build community. For older generations, maybe they didn't have that opportunity to connect in this way and really be in their feelings. We're allowed to do that here, among women, without judgment and without holding back.” 

The event was made possible through partnership with the City of Huntington Park, California Credit Union, and AltaMed Health Services. 

 It also featured various vendors and community organizations that provided attendees with health and social services. Some of the vendors and organizations at Sunday's event included Huntington Park Contigo, Libros con Alma, Planned Parenthood and Cal Matters, among others. 

Alma, founder of Libros con Alma, had various books about women's empowerment, healing, love and connection. As well as other children's books about policing, making friends and consent. 

“I focus on books by authors of color and books in Spanish,” Alma said. “We're always growing, we're always changing, so when we revisit a book, we're always learning something new,” she said. “It's really special to be here and be able to provide a variety of books. Today, it was really important to share books by women about healing, growth, about taking care of us and taking care of each other.” 

The summit will return next year in 2027. Oliva said the goals of the summit will continue to be building healthier communities and spaces where women can heal, use their voices, access resources and imagine something different for themselves.