Meet Marie Johnson

Marie Johnson is the founder and Executive Director of Empowerment Services, LLC. She is the heart and soul of Empowerment Services, LLC. 

Marie earned her Master's Degree in special education in 1992 from Portland State University, after having started as an instructional assistant in education in 1989. 

Marie's professional experience includes eight years at the Sherwood School District. Marie split her time between the Middle School and the High School/Transition Program, where she worked with the District's most behaviorally challenged and high-need students. Marie also initiated a community training program for her students. This allowed them to experience valuable community lessons like safety, appropriate social behavior, money management, and other basic functional skills. She also started the first Peer Tutoring program at the Middle School and when Marie transitioned up to the High School, started one there as well. 

Marie also worked for Northwest Regional Education District (NWRESD), a large educational organization servicing four counties in Northwest Oregon, for eight years as an Autism Spectrum Disorder consultant. Marie earned the reputation of being the "go-to gal" and was brought in on many difficult cases. 

While Marie has had vast professional experiences working with individuals with disabilities, her love and genuine care, nurturing, and advocating started decades prior, in her very own childhood home. Marie's brother has a developmental disability, so she learned from a very young age how one member of a family having a disability impacts everyone in the family. She spent much of her childhood helping her mom run her childcare business, where children up both special needs and neuro-typical needs were cared for. As a teenager she spent much of her free time babysitting children, with and without disabilities. As years progressed, Marie served as a Peer Tutor in the special seeds classroom in her high school, volunteered for the Special Olympics and while in college worked as an Special Education Instructional Assistant. 

Currently, Marie is the Executive Director of Empowerment Services, LLC. and oversees the business operations, team members on instructional practices and learning styles, and directs the individualized programming for the clients. 

Marie is a highly skilled communicator and leader. She is an accomplished (and entertaining) speaker and a passionate supporter of both children and adults with disabilities. She combines her experience, passion, knowledge, and a tireless work ethic for her clients on a daily basis.