Empowered Together: Calm, Connected, Compassionate, Changemakers

February 28, 2025 — In honor of Economic Blackout day today, activist and artist Cynthia de Lorenzi interviews Hope Katz Gibbs, president of the Inkandescent PR + Publishing Co. Together, they co-founded the Empowered Together Network, an international women’s organization dedicated to helping calm, cool, compassionate changemakers together where they work as a time as they PINE for the future they wish to see.

In today’s interview, Cynthia asks Hope: 

Cynthia: You say you are PINEing to create the change you wish for all of us. Tell us more. 

Hope: Inkandescent is a public relations and publishing company, so when you and I imagined this group after the election results on Nov. 6, 2025, we talked about how we can build an international organization that offers a new twist to the women’s activist movement. While we absolutely support other organizations’ fundraising activities, calls to Congress, marches and protests, and more, we’re focusing on Promoting our members to each other and world, Inspiring everyone with insights and ideas, Networking so our members can meet others that will help elevate them in business and personally (mind, body, spirit, heart and soul), and Educating each other and the world by giving each member the opportunity to share their unique wisdom by teaching a class/taking a class.

Cynthia: I love that, especially since today is Economic Blackout Day. While our producers will have this ready to go live on International Women’s Day, March 8, tell us why you think a protest like this is so important.

Hope: This is an unprecedented time in your lives, and in the nation’s history, when we all need to stand up — and stand together. The power of the purse is the one thing that women control, as research tells us it’s the woman in the home who decides where the money is spent. As our friends at The People’s World eloquently explain it: “Friday’s boycott hopes to use powerful economic pressure to protest major corporations renouncing their DEI—Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion—initiatives after Trump’s election. It’s an appropriate response to the racist capitulation of corporate America to the MAGA right. Hit them where it hurts: in the pocket book. Money talks, bullshit walks.”

Of course, no one wants to hurt mom-and-pop shops — but unfortunately, too many small businesses have been lost to corporations. I do my best to shop at Slater’s Market, the store around the corner, and Wine Gallery 108, where owner Lisa Katic hosts tastings every weekend so we can try before we buy. I’m proud to be part of Kelly Grant’s ALX Community, where people come together to co-work on the Waterfront. The list goes on, and what I love about these stores is that I get to talk with the staff, learn about their lives, and feel part of my community.

This is the key to what we’re doing at the Empowered Together Network — supporting each other. This is the opposite of what the current administration is trying to do, and we need to push back. If we lock arms and stand up for each other in every way, they can’t get through our fortress of kindness.

Cynthia: How did you get to this point in your career?

Hope: When I was 8, my Dad was reading a short story I’d written and he looked up and said, “Hopie, you are really good writer.” The comment stuck. While he lobbied for me to become a lawyer (I would have died), I grew up to be a journalist, and since high school, I have been reporting on the world around me. After graduating from the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania in 1986, I have had the privilege of writing for The Miami Herald, USA Today, The (old) Washington Post, interviewing bestselling authors for Costco’s magazine — the list goes on. For nearly 20 years, I have been active at the National Press Club in DC. Now more than ever, as freedom of the press is being challenged by billionaires, it is essential that we support journalists to find the truth and report on real news.

Cynthia: What made you decide to launch in Inkandescent PR in 2008?

Hope: When my kids were little, I became the Director of Communications for the City of Fairfax Schools in Northern VA. It was the perfect opportunity to blend my work as a reporter with the master’s degree in Educational Leadership that I got at George Washington University. For a decade, I worked with powerhouse Superintendent George Stepp and the school board led by amazing Janice Miller, telling stories about what was going on in the schools, and in education. At the time, No Child Left Behind was all the rage, so there was a ton to write about. We won a bunch of awards for that work, which is something I’m very proud of.

That job led to a second PR gig with an international futurist think tank called Social Technologies here in DC, and after getting them into every national news outlet they wanted, I realized I could do that kind of work for lots of organizations. So in 2008, Inkandecent was born.

Cynthia: In the 18 since you launch the company, you have created two popular online magazines — InkandescentWomen.com and the health and wellness business magazine BeInkandescent; and you have a robust podcast network with more than two dozen shows, InkandescentRadio, and your YouTube channel gets tons of visibility, Inkandescent.tv. Plus, you focus on helping authors publish and promote their books. Your platforms get more than 1 million hits/month. What’s on the horizon for 2025? 

Hope: Yes, it has been so much fun. I rolled out each of those offerings based on what my PR clients were asking for, and the company just kept growing. The one segment that I’ve wanted to work with is kids. When I was a grad student at GW I founded a nonprofit called The Writings on the Wall. This is when politicians were starting to pull back on education funding with the goal of “dumbing down” Americans. I had the idea that if we could have kids around the country make billboard size paintings on buildings about what they’d do to make the world a better place — people would take notice. The project never got that big; instead we did art/writing/photo events at community centers in San Francisco and DC.

But now, I’m more determined than ever to bring that big idea back to the forefront. In March, we’ll be launching InkandescentKids.com. Students K-20 will be invited to participate to tell stories in the form of writing, illustrations, photo essays, videos, and more. On our team are our Inkandescent interns at the University of Pennsylvia who work with the school newsletter The Daily Pennsylvania (where I got my start). Students will be assigned a topic or can bring us an idea; we’ll be interviewing ambassadors, filmmakers, authors, business leaders, lawyers, politicians, financial planners, and more. The goal is to connect with thousands of students around the world and help them think like reporters — fact check, get multiple sources to corroborate what they are told, and hone their critical thinking skills and creativity to share important thoughts and big ideas. If we can help them do that, I know they will make the world a better place.

Cynthia: I’m in! Ok, last question — What didn’t I ask you?

Hope: For starters, I’m excited to announce when I’ll be interviewing you — because your insight and friendship have helped me and countless other women — and I can’t wait to tell more people about your work as an artist and activist. I think the question is how can more people get involved in what we are cooking up through the evolving portal of Inkandescent Women magazine.

In March, we’ll be redesigning the homepage to feature our regular roundtable discussions where members come together and ask questions of an expert on topics that are impacting our lives including the emptying out of jobs at the federal level, what the country will look like in 6 months, and how to stay sane in times of turmoil. Our members will be also teaching classes to keep us from falling into a pit of dispair, including how to find and use your archetype to thrive, how to manage your money during uncertainty, how to cook a delicious heart-healthy meal on a budget (for one or an entire family), and so much more! Of course, our members will also be sharing their films, new books, original music, teaching yoga and meditation … there is no limit to the creative bright minds in this growing network.

I’m also excited to produce the new podcast shows that our network members will launch, including a girlfriend chat between myself and our network’s board member LifeChef Alina Z called “The Questions Bar.” And, the new show you’ll be hosting called “Mourning in America,” where you’ll be doing interviews with more women about how they are handling life in 2025 and beyond. Plus, you are going to put the amazing artist that you are to do work to create T-shirts and other goodies and sales will go to support the causes that we believe in.

Cynthia: There is so much good we can do when we put our heads and hearts together. Thank you, Hope!

Hope: Thank you dear Cynthia! Just as we both have created organizations and grown our families, lived in so many places around the world, and made oodles of friends — I believe that this year is the start of something that we can’t yet imagine. Our souls will no doubt be challenged, and we’ll be called on to dig even deeper than we have yet in our lives. Given the challenges we have faced and overcome, that is a pill that is pretty tough to swallow. But I also believe that everything we have done to date has prepared us for the fight we are embarking on. We are built for this — and now we’re creating an opportunity for all of the brazen badasses to join us to create the fearless future we dream of. We are truly Empowered Together!