More than a business course. A way forward.
The Academy was designed by our founder, a survivor of sex trafficking, to lift up other survivors and to prevent other women from ever becoming one. Its design delivers more than tools and information. It combines coaching, community, and connection to truly empower women to rebuild and rise.
We start with the woman. Then we build the business.
Before we talk budgets or business plans, we help each woman shift limiting beliefs, rebuild confidence, and reconnect with her strengths. From that foundation, entrepreneurship becomes a real path to freedom: control over her time, flexibility around healing, and income she builds on her own terms.
Experts from across the Sacramento business ecosystem join throughout the Academy, so every woman leaves with real skills, a real plan, and a real network.
“Microenterprise development is among the most effective and accessible ways to create jobs and income for disadvantaged women.”
Entrepreneurial training paired with mentorship and access to capital has a greater impact on women than a standalone course, which is exactly how the Academy is built.
The Rebuild & Rise experience
A five-week journey from mindset to a real, launch-ready business, ending in a hands-on AI Sprint and graduation. Experts from the Sacramento business ecosystem join as guest speakers throughout.
Foundations & AI training
Academy overview, expectations, and hands-on AI instruction.
Assessments & goals
Strengths assessment, DISC workshop, communication, and goal setting.
Business & marketing
Business formation, the Business Model Canvas, customers, and marketing.
Money & lending
Healing money beliefs, budgeting, accounting basics, and lending readiness.
AI Sprint & graduation
The AI Sprint: take an idea, build it out with AI, create a business plan, and present a clear pitch at graduation.
- Understand what has been holding them back
- Shift into solution-based mindsets
- Reframe past beliefs and trauma around money
- Build confidence by identifying their strengths
- Use the power of language and communication
- Dream big and start small with SMART goals
- Practice time management, self-care, and accountability
- Use AI tools to learn and work faster
- Develop and validate their business ideas
- Pitch their vision with clarity and confidence
Money Week, in the room.
Real conversations about money, business, and the beliefs that shape both. Press play for a window into a live Rebuild & Rise session.
Money mindset & generational wealth · 1:22
Guest speaker: healing your money story · 0:49
Heal your money relationship · 0:15
Ready to join the next conversation?
Register for the AcademyThree things every woman leaves with
Use AI with confidence
Practical, hands-on AI skills that make learning and building a business faster and less overwhelming.
Build a real business foundation
From idea to Business Model Canvas to a fundable plan, the real skills to launch and grow.
Community connection
The Academy is her doorway into Sacramento's entrepreneurial ecosystem: expert guest speakers, immersive tours, and connections to StartupSac, the hub that ties it all together.
Join an upcoming cohort
The Academy runs in person in downtown Sacramento. Space is limited each cohort so women get real, individual attention.
Academy details
September to October 2026
Mentorship after graduation
After their cohort, we connect women to mentors to finalize their strategy and funding needs, followed by continued connection to keep their momentum going. When a woman is ready with an approved plan, Connect 2 Change invests directly in her venture, providing tools, supplies, permits, and ongoing support to help her launch and grow.
Become a mentor
We're always looking for new mentors for the Academy. If you'd like to help a woman launch her business, we'd love to hear from you.
Emily Sanders
Emily leads every cohort personally. A survivor of trafficking who rebuilt her life through entrepreneurship, she is a certified Master Life Coach and DISC Practitioner who has led workshops with organizations across the Sacramento region. Her story is the reason the Academy works: the women see what she built, and begin to believe they can too.
Ready to rebuild and rise?
Apply for an upcoming cohort, or refer a woman who is ready for a new way forward.
Want to power this work? Sponsor the Academy →