So I would love it if you could just tell us a little bit about how you came to work on issues of violence and abuse prevention.

Sure.

So I'm going to tell my origin story and I'm also going to tell our operations manager's origin story because they are very different and they both led us to the same place and we are both very, very deeply connected to the mission and the work of impact.

So I was a women's studies major in college and I knew that I cared about feminism.

I knew that I cared about gender equity, but I did not have clarity about what that would mean for my work and my adult life.

And then I was in a class that had a number of guest speakers.

And among the guest speakers was a staff member of the local domestic violence crisis center who spoke with a survivor of domestic violence who was getting support from the program.

So for those who are listening, who are considering working in a nonprofit, starting their career there, or maybe transitioning to that kind of role, what do you think they should know? What are some challenges that they might need to be prepared for? But also, always on the flip side, what are the opportunities or benefits maybe that you see from your time in those sorts of spaces?

Mm.

Oftentimes, that history or that lived experience is either a direct cause of becoming unhoused or an indirect cause of becoming unhoused.

You know, I've been doing violence prevention work.

I've been teaching social justice-oriented self-defense skills, which are designed to help people who are disproportionately targeted for abuse and violence be able to advocate for and protect themselves in the moment of threat or intimidation.

Too often, people, not just like you, me, and everyday people, but a lot of taxpayer-funded websites, particularly those belonging to law enforcement, give the public advice about how to stay safer that is not based on any facts or any evidence.

So, um, I had a situation where there's a sheriff's department in Florida that advises just women to not go shopping alone if they can avoid it, and if they can't avoid it, to get a security guard to walk them to their car, but to not just pick any person in a uniform, but actually make sure it's a legit security guard.

So I reached out and I asked a very obvious question, or at least was obvious to me.

E- exactly.