What’s In A Survey – IMPACT Social Media Survey Results

You might remember seeing some posts about a social media survey we hosted a few months ago. If you had the time to take it, THANK YOU! The information we got back helped us learn more about what matters to you! 

Here are 5 interesting things that we learned:

Facebook is where we connect most

The majority of respondents said they engage with the IMPACT Facebook regularly. So that’s really good to know. That means we’re going to start directing more of our energy to the Facebook page. Unfortunately for us, Facebook has changed the way that pages show up on a Facebook feed and going forward, it's less likely that we'll show up when you're scrolling your home page. So that’s a challenge we’ll be looking into. Fortunately for us, a lot of you also said you enjoy reading the newsletter – so we’ll also be able to use that tool to better connect with you.

Twitter was a no-go

IMPACT Twitter and Facebook have been around for the same amount of time, and while we’ve picked up a good number of followers, our respondents said – IMPACT is on Twitter? That’s right, most of you didn’t even know we had one! So we’ve decided to retire the Twitter account and put that extra time into Facebook.

Updates about IMPACT is your favorite content

Close behind that was educational information, new classes and self defense successes. You can expect to start seeing more of those topics from IMPACT in the near future!

It’s not just graduates we’re talking to

No surprise, almost 70% of the respondents were graduates of an IMPACT program. We love knowing that graduates are still so connected to IMPACT! Who were the other 30% you ask? That was equally as exciting and interesting. Parents of graduates, blog readers, friends of graduates, self-defense instructors not affiliated with IMPACT…the list goes on. So, while we are still mostly connecting with graduates, almost a quarter of the people that engage with us online are finding inspiration and information even though they never went through IMPACT. 

IMPACT still has work to do

Our demographics survey came back showing that most of the respondents identified as straight, white females. IMPACT is committed to making programs accessible to all economic, racial/ethnic, and social groups and we won’t stop until all people can live safely and with dignity. While we are reaching a diversity of economic, racial/ethnic, and social groups in our programming, the survey results show us that we have work to do to reach more communities on social media – and we plan to!

Thank you again to everyone who participated in the survey. After reading this, if you have questions or ideas, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us!

Arden Austin, IMPACT grad 
Cascade Reaction Consulting

Aaron: New IMPACT Chicago Suited Instructor

AC Christensen

Aaron Christensen (AC) is the newest member of the IMPACT Chicago Instructor Team.  He has completed the required attendance at a What is IMPACT program, rigorous interview process, observation of two Core Programs, and an intensive out-of-class training with instructors and experienced class assistants, wearing body armor customized just for him. He will be one of the suited instructors in the upcoming 2018 April Core Program.

Aaron brings a lot of experience to IMPACT. He is a certified Rape Prevention and Self Defense Instructor with the American Women’s Self Defense Association, and has worked internationally with Peak Potentials and Success Resources, assisting and leading motivational camps that incorporate martial arts and non-verbal tactics to de-escalate and/or end conflicts without compromising one’s safety or integrity of self (2013-present). He is an Elite-level personal trainer with Chicago Athletic Clubs, a professional actor, and one of the founding members of Not In Our House: Chicago, an organization created to combat sexual harassment and unbecoming conduct within the Chicago theatre community (2015-present). Welcome, Aaron!

Class Assistant and Board Member Janette
helping with AC's out-of-class training

How Can Empowerment Self-Defense Lift the Personal Burdens People Carry?

 As an IMPACT instructor I teach using Empowerment Self-Defense principles and see how this positively affects my students.  These principles influence how I plan classes, respond to student questions, and address prevalent myths and facts about interpersonal violence.

Infusing ESD Principles Into Teaching

ESD principles guide adaptation and customization of courses based on the participants enrolled. Adaptations take into account how various aspects of one’s identity affect: experiences of violence, choices about resistance or compliance, harm from rape culture, the aftermath of reporting, and obtaining justice. ESD principles apply to people of all ages and genders, with varying types of vulnerabilities and/or prior experiences of abuse/trauma/violence, those with learning differences, various physical disabilities and cognitive disabilities. Our ability to connect to our participants is enhanced by content relevance. ESD principles remind us to acknowledge the perspective and experiences of those who are not in the room - which may differ from those who are present.

• Space for self-reflection and critical thinking

Class participants learn skills and tools such as threat assessment, verbal and physical resistance. Additionally ESD guided instruction intentionally invites our participants to consider how their gender, age, ability, appearance, race, religion, social class, and sexual orientation (among other identity factors) influence their beliefs and attitudes about violence and their options for resistance.

Participants examine their reflexive and internalized beliefs (and where they came from) regarding resistance and their own power to interrupt violence and boundary violations.  They learn what research points to in terms of which resistance strategies are effective most of the time and why.  Ultimately, in the hands-on component of class, they connect new knowledge and experience to their own lives. This is a significant contribution towards reducing the burden of worry, and fear of helplessness, that narrow people’s lives.

• Space to let go of self-blame

Self-defense programs based on empowerment principles reflect on how rape culture influences who is blamed, who is believed and supported, the challenges of reporting, who the justice system works for, and who is excused and who is punished.

Making this explicit in class demonstrates to our students that we appreciate the decisions they have made for themselves, their range of experiences, and the choices and strategies they have chosen. It supports letting go of internalized blame and shame, as we are clear in assigning blame and fault to the perpetrator.

Violence is very personal and unfair. Nonetheless, it is important in our teaching to tie individual experiences to larger social systems that perpetuate this unfairness. Such connections can lift internal personal burdens about past experiences and their repercussions. What happened to me was indeed unfair and was the (predictable and intentional) outcome of biased systems.

• Space to ask BIG questions

In classes, children and teenagers often raise BIG questions: Why are people violent? Who would want to hurt kids? ESD principles help us answer these types of questions by linking violence to inequality and power. For example, on the spectrum of violence, we include mean words, put downs, and micro-aggressions as forms of verbal violence. Students readily generate that put downs are usually based on looks, ability, race, class, religion, likes and dislikes, gender or gender non-conformity, etc. (for example, your hair is weird, you got the worst grade on the math test, your clothes aren’t new or cool, your religion doesn’t have the “good” holidays, boys don’t like ballet, girls can’t play basketball.) We witness the weight of these prior negative experiences being released, as students understand that they were targeted (all or in part) based on one or more aspects of their identity versus something that they did wrong or an inherent lack of value as a human being.

• Space to sort myths and facts

We reference statistics about crime and about aggressors. ESD programs dispel myths about the frequency of stranger vs familiar crime, about armed vs unarmed assault, and intra-vs inter-racial crime. We address the effectiveness of different strategies of resistance as well as how the research data is collected and interpreted. By reviewing evidence-based information about interpersonal violence, we broaden participants understanding of the many forms violence takes. ESD principles help teachers acknowledge the many purely personal choices people make to stay safer. ESD classes cover a wide range of circumstances, depict a variety of different types of abusive behavior, and teach varied strategies for responding to specific situations. This customization makes the classes relevant and personal. ESD practitioners sort myths from facts, directly address the pervasiveness of violence in our culture, and seek to build empathy.

Carol Schaeffer, IMPACT and ESD Instructor

What is Empowerment Self-Defense?

Here is a sampling of how a few practitioners define Empowerment Self-Defense (ESD) and links to more details.

Empowerment Changes

“Empowerment Self Defense (ESD) is a specific type of self defense that adheres to standards developed from within the women’s self defense community… Empowerment Self Defense grew out of a social justice movement so it does not have a centralized home — its history and development are shared by many.”

Jay O’Shea

Empowerment self-defense is a “feminist, gender-inclusive self-defense system that treats violence as a tool of social control and self-defense as a means of changing this culture of violence.”

Sun Dragon Martial Arts

“This style of self defense focuses on feeling strong, safe, and respected in all situations. It brings attention to social issues like racism and sexism that teach us to tolerate violence and disrespect. We believe strongly that people who have survived violence should not be blamed for that violence.”

Susan Shorn

ESD is a “feminist, anti-racist, gender-inclusive approach to eradicating violence and fostering equality. Empowerment self-defense is based on the premise that, although only an aggressor is responsible for an assault, a defender has options when reacting to violence. ESD provides training for expanding these options.”

Lynne Marie Wanamaker

“Empowerment self defense (ESD) -- sometimes called ‘feminist empowerment self defense’ or ‘empowerment model self defense’ -- is a uniquely holistic, evidence-based, survivor-centered, feminist approach to self-protection skills.”

Shout out to 2017-2018 IMPACT Chicago Volunteers

Administrative Team

Lisa Amoroso

Katie Skibbe

Martha Thompson

Administrative Support

Stephanie Paredes
Nate Tracy-Amoroso

Board

Lisa Amoroso

Bruce Brio

Courtney Henderson

Sheila Hickey

Deb Mier

Robin Mina

Shelley Schaaf

Janette Scott

Katie Skibbe

Martha Thompson

Class Assistants

Jill Armstrong

Emma Baker

Mary Jo Boldic

Tara Brinkman

Apoorva Changedia

Kayla Chapa

Dana Dunham

Ellenkate Finley

Alissa Goldblatt

Meghan Hammond

Bianka Hardin

Amy Harmon

Diana Hay

Courtney Henderson

Jesse Holzman

Stephanie Kilper

Rehana Manejwala

Amaya Mensinger

Deb Mier

Robin Mina

Priya Nelson

Chloe Pooler

Kristen Reid

Lexy Sandin

Veronica Silva

Christi Trombino Tonzi

Michelle Trudel

Carrie Villa

Ursula Wagner

Laura Weiss

Elizabeth West

Anne Yellick

Fundraising

Aaron Christensen

Kathleen Williamsen

Amy Harmon

Allie Katz

Instructor Out-of-Class Time

Rob Babcock

Bruce Brio

Aaron Christensen (also in-class training)

Rachel Marro (also in-class training)

Mark Nessel

Molly Norris-Van Eaton

Ben Ruiz

Katie Skibbe

Martha Thompson

Margaret Vimont

Nat Wilson

30th Anniversary

Lisa Amoroso

Tara Brinkman

Laura Dini

Tess Given

Kathleen Williamsen 

Ken Gruberman

Sheila Hickey

Laura Lamb

Deb Mier

Willow Naeco
Molly Norris-Van Eaton

Janette Scott

Ellen Snortland

Luci Ballet Stanley

Martha Thompson

Yudit Sidikman

Photography

Laura Dini

Ken Gruberman

Daran Redenbaugh

Sandy Sullivan

Martha Thompson

Kathleen Williamsen

Social Media

Arden Austin
Dana Dunham

Kim Ruhana

Martha Thompson

What is IMPACT

Lisa Amoroso

Emma Baker

Bruce Brio

Tara Brinkman

Kayla Chapa

Carrie Czech
Laura Dini

Dana Dunham

Meghan Hammond

Amy Harmon

Courtney Henderson

Sheila Hickey

Rehana Manejwala

Deb Mier

Chloe Pooler

Kristen Reid

Shelley Schaaf

Tania Schusler

Janette Scott

Veronica Silva

Martha Thompson

Michelle Trudel

Ursula Wagner

Anne Yellick

If we have inadvertently not included your name where it belongs, please let us know.

The Facts Behind the #MeToo Movement

In January 2018,  on behalf of Stop Street Harassment, Gfk conducted a nationally representative survey on sexual harassment and assault.

Some of the results found in "The Facts Behind the #MeToo Movement:"

• 81% of women and 43% of men have experienced sexual harassment and/or assault.
• 77% of women and 34% of men have experienced verbal harassment.
• 51% of women and 17% of men reported being touched or groped without their consent.
• 27% of women and 7% of men experienced sexual assault.
• Sexual harassment most often took place in a public space and was committed by strangers.
• Sexual assault most often took place in a private residence and was committed by someone known by the person assaulted.
• Women with disabilities and women who identify as lesbian and bisexual were more likely to experience sexual assault than other women.
• Men in socially marginalized groups were more likely to experience sexual harassment and assault than other men.

Some things you can do:

• Encourage someone to take an Empowerment Self-Defense program like the IMPACT Chicago Core Program
• Participate in the April 2018 Sexual Assault Awareness Month "Embrace Your Voice" Campaign
• Participate in International Anti-Street Harassment Week, April 8-14. 

Katie Skibbe is an IMPACT Treasure(r)

Katie Skibbe delivers a powerful palm heel
Photo: Daniel Teafoe

Katie Skibbe has a deep commitment to anti-violence and has put in untold volunteer hours for over the past sixteen years. In 2002, she served as a crisis counselor at Northwest Center Against Sexual Assault. Her involvement with IMPACT started in 2007 after completing the Core Program.

It seems safe to say that the IMPACT community is well aware of Katie’s work as a Lead Instructor (certified April 2016) and Workshop lead (from 2013 to present)! If that is news to you, here is a link to her Instructor Bio. What you might not know is that Katie is also our Financial Department.Yep, she is it! She is actively involved in major policy decisions providing her wisdom and assessment of proposals on IMPACT’s financials; she is our Bookkeeper, handling reimbursements, bills, etc. She is also our Payroll Director, managing our payroll and relationship with Paychex. She is our Accountant, handling our IRS and State of Illinois filings; She is our Insurance Broker, she handles the selection of our insurance, the coverage options, the negotiation over premiums, and the payment – these are no small tasks(!). Katie’s administrative team work is absolutely incredible!

What you also might not know is that Katie serves as our Board Treasurer. This means she keeps the Board apprised of IMPACT’s fiscal situation through her careful attention to the numbers and helpful reports, but she does all this without ever forgetting our mission…

...AND she has been playing all of these roles since 2010.

Katie’s expertise (CPA, MBA) and experience (over 15 years of violence prevention work) regularly benefits IMPACT and our efforts to fulfill our mission. We are so fortunate to have Katie on our team.

Lisa Amoroso

IMPACT Chicago Board Chair

Admin Team Co-Leader