The 2013 IMPACT International Directors meeting was hosted
by IMPACT Personal Safety of Colorado with representatives from each chapter meeting
via Skype and face-to-face. IMPACT
International is an affiliation of 10 chapters in the US and two abroad
(England and Israel). Each chapter has its own organizational structure and
programmatic focus, but chapters work together to share resources and ideas to
enhance the quality of IMPACT self-defense training. For more about common
characteristics of IMPACT chapters, see impactselfdefense.org.
IMPACT International engaged in two joint projects in 2013:
developing a caregivers curriculum and participating in preparing a grant proposal.
At the conference, each participating chapter presented a module that could be
used as part of an IMPACT International caregivers curriculum. The modules included the influence of
socialization on safety; distinguishing intuition, paranoia, and prejudice; and
principles of and practice with teaching children about boundaries, respecting
children’s boundaries, responding when children set boundaries and/or tell of a
boundary violation, and having challenging conversations with other adults. Videos
and outlines of each module will be discussed by each chapter and feedback will contribute to the development of an IMPACT International caregivers
curriculum.
IMPACT International directors also worked this year with
Rachel Lucas-Thompson, Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family
Studies at Colorado State University, to develop a research proposal for
national funding. Rachel attended the Directors meeting to talk about her
research on cortisol, the current climate for research funding, and ideas for
research. Ellen Melko Moore, visionary brand business consultant, was another
special guest who led Directors in an exercise to help refine our mission and
vision statements, define who we are serving, and identify our unique value.
Directors also addressed working with domestic violence and
sexual assault service providers, networking with other national organizations,
and identifying the multitude of ways that chapters benefit from and contribute
to the work of other chapters.
Martha Thompson
IMPACT Chicago Representative to the IMPACT International Directors
Meeting
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