About IMPowerU
Integrated Innovation
We were founded by a group of friends who after successful professional careers and expansive personal journeys, intertwined the two, creating a new model for enterprise ecosystems. Leading with their hearts, they integrated knowledge, experience, intentions and energy to create the experience that is IMPowerU.
Our team
Founding Partner
Jerry Thompson
Meet Jerry Thompson, a seasoned professional and the Founder/CEO of IMPower U, a transformative platform dedicated to helping businesses unlock their full potential. As an Experienced Business and Digital Innovator and Operator, Jerry has over 25 years of experience working with large corporations across various industries. His mission is to realize the value of organizational vision by fostering a culture of curiosity, creativity, and compassionate connection.
Throughout his career, Jerry has held key positions, including Tax Principal at KPMG US, where he led the Value Chain Management group. He played a pivotal role in aligning organizational vision, mission, values, and strategy with effective and efficient systems, processes, and structures. Recognizing the need for holistic support in the face of accelerating change, Jerry transitioned into the role of a health, life, and personal Transformation coach in 2017. In January 2022, he founded IMPower U, bringing together decades of experience as a consultant, in-house executive, and advocate for personal and professional well-being.
Founding Partner
Rob Vanderwerf
Meet Rob Vanderwerf, an Experienced Business and Digital Innovator and Operator with a rich history of serving Fortune 500, mid-market, and start-up organizations across a diverse range of industries, including Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT), Financial Services (FS), Healthcare, Consumer, and Industrial sectors. With over 30 years of expertise in strategy, business, and product development, sales, technology, and operations, Mr. Vanderwerf is a seasoned professional navigating the complexity of business growth in dynamic environments influenced by continuous technology advancements, evolving customer and workforce values, and fluctuations in global markets, supply chains, and regulatory business landscapes.
Currently serving as the Founder of IMPowerU, Rob is at the forefront of redefining organizational development through a holistic lens. IMPowerU stands out for creating thriving organizations invested in the realization of human intelligence. Rob's innovative solutions go beyond traditional consulting, offering a comprehensive approach that equips organizations with the necessary tools, support, guidance, and mindset to navigate the complexities of the connected economy. The focus is on fostering resourced individuals and cultivating a positive, thriving workplace culture.
Founding Partner
Chris Short
Meet Chris Short, an experienced leader and innovative visionary committed to empowering mission-driven ecosystems and fostering intentional operating systems. With two decades of diverse experience in Finance, Human Capital and Technology his perspective is broad.
Currently serving as the Founder & Chief Empowered Operating Steward, Chris leads operations within IMPowerU, designing and implementing the company IOS as well working closely with clients to implement more intentional operating systems, delivering well being, and fostering growth.
Previously, Chris served as the Head of Delivery at Pocket Network, a leading decentralized blockchain communications provider.. Chris scaled agile operations from non-existence through growth and maturity, from eight to supporting a Product and Engineering team of seventy.
Before his tenure at Pocket Network, Chris held key leadership positions at Beeline, where he led enterprise-scale product delivery programs for SaaS products. Supporting the CTO, his expertise with agile product delivery and driving tactical roadmap development was instrumental in achieving the organization's strategic vision.
Founding Partner
Taylor Ketcham
Taylor Ketcham is a former Division I athlete turned Founding Partner of IMPowerU and brings a wealth of experience and passion to the intersection of sports, wellness, and business. With a background as a Division I collegiate lacrosse player, Taylor has translated her athletic drive into a dynamic career as a business owner and holistic consultant.
As a Founding Partner of IMPowerU, Taylor is at the forefront of fostering well-being in business. Drawing from her extensive experience in owning and operating a lacrosse business centered on wellness, a yoga studio focused on integrating up-to-date and impactful well-being technologies, and current longevity & wellness facility in Mooresville, NC, she has demonstrated a commitment to the holistic development of individuals. Through her consulting business, she brings a unique blend of sports mentality and holistic principles to guide organizations towards success.
With a Bachelor's in English from Davidson College and a Master’s in English from Wake Forest University, Taylor brings a unique perspective to her holistic coaching approach. Her graduate studies in Disability Studies and the Evolution of Human Rights enrich her commitment to uplifting women, advocating for social justice, and bridging the gap between corporate and everyday life. With a holistic approach to business development, she aims to empower individuals and organizations to thrive.
Mission
We're an educational platform offering programs to unlock the human intelligence in organizations to navigate the complexity of the connected economy.
Theory of Impact
By placing personal growth at the center of professional growth, we create systems & institutions that support and care for each other & the planet.
Beliefs
Core Connections are the way into a more meaningful, impactful, and inspiring way of working together.
Resourced Humans are the greatest asset of an organization and a wise investment.
A Culture of Being Well is created by an organization's internal operating system.
Value chains and connected economies can be built with a Contributive Capitalism prioritizing the planet, ourselves, and each other.