About Us
Meet Our
Founder
Rafat Fields:
Building Systems that Redefine Leadership
The Lesson That Changed Everything
Early in my career, I treated leadership like a game—outthink, outperform, outlast. For a while, it worked. I moved through corporate spaces solving problems, earning promotions, and proving myself in every way possible.
Then I learned the hard truth: some systems were never built for people like me to win.
So, instead of fighting for a seat at a table that wasn’t designed with me in mind, I chose to build a new one—a platform where leaders who know their communities best could design solutions that actually serve them.
For our community, leadership requires changing the systems we grew up within.
The Birth of
Powered To Rise
Powered To Rise was born from my journey to reclaim my voice, my purpose, and my power. I saw too many brilliant leaders—especially women of color—pushed to the sidelines, struggling to secure the resources and recognition their work deserved. I knew there had to be a better way.
What started as a personal branding agency has evolved into a strategy and systems studio:
We help leaders design human-centered, AI-powered workspaces that expand their capacity to serve.
Our focus is on helping purpose-powered professionals build digital ecosystems that work with them—so their time, creativity, and insight can go toward the people that need them most.
A Mission Fueled by
Lasting Impact
My work is dedicated to expanding access—to health, economic mobility, and leadership—for Black and other historically under-resourced communities. I’ve seen firsthand how access can change lives, how resources shape futures, and how the right partnerships can send ripples of transformation through entire communities. From Fortune 500 boardrooms to everyday community warriors, I’ve learned that when passion meets strategy, change isn’t just possible—it’s inevitable.
Powered To Rise focuses on equipping leaders with the tools
they need to thrive in the digital era:
We’re building the tools and infrastructure for a future where technology complements humanity.
Where leaders from underrepresented backgrounds are leading systems that were designed with their unique needs in mind.
If you’ve ever felt like the odds were stacked against you, know this:
We can build a ladder together—one that lifts you and your community to new heights.
Let's build better systems together.
OUR FOUNDER
Powered to Rise was created to help everyday leaders—those pouring their hearts into making workplaces, communities, and systems better—be seen, heard, and credited for the impact they create.
Rafat Fields
Founder & CEO
Rafat Fields founded Powered to Rise after witnessing a pattern too many changemakers know well: the people driving transformation from within were rarely recognized as the architects of progress.
Their ideas were celebrated, their labor absorbed—but their leadership remained invisible.
Now, as we witness the largest workplace displacement of Black women in modern history—over 300,000 in 2025 alone—the call to build independent ecosystems of visibility and value has never been louder.
For our community, building your own digital infrastructure isn’t just about branding—it’s about belonging, agency, and survival. Powered to Rise exists to make that possible: helping leaders build the systems, storytelling, and strategy to ensure their brilliance is both seen and sustained.
Because when we build our own ladders, we don’t just climb—we create new paths for everyone coming after us.
Rafat Fields
Founder & CEO
Shapes the vision, strategy, and direction that turns purpose-powered healthcare leaders into change agents influencing funding, community impact, and policy change.
Rafif Tariq
Marketing Automation Lead
Architects the backend systems and automations that power your digital presence and keep your audience engaged and growing.
Girlie Verzosa
Brand Designer
Shapes the visual identity, crafting cohesive designs across funnels, websites, socials, and branding to elevate your mission and connect with audiences.
Building a Global Network of Systems Architects
Because skill is the new currency of equity.
Powered to Rise is an evolving platform—one that connects the stories, skills, and systems of architects building a more equitable future in the U.S. and across the world.
Our current chapter's focus is on developing tools and resources that expand tech equity and access to better-paying, skill-based careers within the Black community in the U.S.
Yet, even as we focus our efforts on domestic program design, our work has always been—and will continue to be—global. Each partnership contributes a piece of the infrastructure that allows leaders to design, build, and sustain impact.
Today, Powered to Rise operates as a solopreneur-led entity—seeking to grow an ecosystem of independently operated collaborators whose expertise helps shape the foundation for what’s possible for our community.
Girlie Verzosa
Visual Brand
Strategist
Rafif Tariq
Marketing Automation &
Platform Growth
Rafat Fields
Founder & CEO
Shapes the vision, strategy, and direction that turns purpose-powered healthcare leaders into change agents influencing funding, community impact, and policy change.
Rafif Tariq
Marketing Automation Lead
Architects the backend systems and automations that power your digital presence and keep your audience engaged and growing.
Girlie Verzosa
Brand Designer
Shapes the visual identity, crafting cohesive designs across funnels, websites, socials, and branding to elevate your mission and connect with audiences.
Let’s Build Something
Extraordinary
I believe in the "Crazy Ones"—the dreamers, the disruptors, the leaders who know they can change the world. If you’re ready to embrace your mission, I’m here to help you create a platform that delivers your message and impact.
Let’s partner to pave new pathways for your mission.
Are you in? Let’s go.
