An act of courage submission for the 1000 Acts of Courage campaign – a community-building conscious action campaign collecting one thousand courageous acts for the well-being, empowerment, and equity of girls and women:

My young daughter informed me I was working alongside a married man with children who was openly called “the creeper” by many young girls in our town. I uncovered this man was having sexual relationships with a very vulnerable population of underage girls, gathered evidence, and reported him. He was tried and convicted and is now registered as a pedophile.  ... [read more]

An act of courage submission for the 1000 Acts of Courage campaign – a community-building conscious action campaign collecting one thousand courageous acts for the well-being, empowerment, and equity of girls and women:

My cousins and I went to a bar and a couple of guys came over and immediately started talking to us. It became clear to me that these men were problematic when I noticed that all they had to say was “joking rude.” For example, my cousin is a stand up comedian, and upon learning this, one of the men kept finding ways to tell her that he bet she sucked and wasn’t actually funny. He made SURE to laugh when he said it though, as if that made it ok. ... [read more]

An act of courage submission for the 1000 Acts of Courage campaign – a community-building conscious action campaign collecting one thousand courageous acts for the well-being, empowerment, and equity of girls and women:

I knew that wasn’t happy in my work and I held a vision for starting a program for girls where they could work with a core group of adults and follow their passions in the arts. In June, I gave my employer a 6 month notice that I would be leaving effective December 1st. In November, 3 weeks before I would be out of a job, I was told about a school that was going to be starting in Indianapolis. They were looking for a principal/school director. I watched a video about the school design, which was based on helping teens follow their passions and have internships – just what I was imagining. I interviewed for the position and started my first day the Monday after my 6 month notice was up. ... [read more]

An act of courage submission for the 1000 Acts of Courage campaign – a community-building conscious action campaign collecting one thousand courageous acts for the well-being, empowerment, and equity of girls and women:

I help women veterans to tell their stories, especially about the sexual abuse and trauma they suffer at the hands of “fellow countrymen.” I hold space in small groups for them to tell these stories in front of male veterans in the group. I’m helping veterans with PSTD to heal themselves and each other by telling their stories. I also taught ninth graders about how to avoid sex trafficking and staying safe. ... [read more]

An act of courage submission for the 1000 Acts of Courage campaign – a community-building conscious action campaign collecting one thousand courageous acts for the well-being, empowerment, and equity of girls and women:

An act of courage is most likely identified as such after the act, when the dust settles and you have time to think about it in the larger context. At the moment the decision is simply to act or not. Such was my experience about 10 years ago when some folks asked me to help a black woman who had been stopped for speeding on her way home from her nursing assistant’s job. The incident escalated and resulted in her being arrested on several felonies, the facts of which seemed unjustified.  ... [read more]

An act of courage submission for the 1000 Acts of Courage campaign – a community-building conscious action campaign collecting one thousand courageous acts for the well-being, empowerment, and equity of girls and women:

As a female feature film director who could not get work for many years, I spoke out in my union (the Directors Guild of America) and I instigated the 2014 ACLU and 2015 EEOC investigations into systemic discrimination against women directors in US entertainment media. I continue to pursue legal and legislative remedies to the near-exclusion of women from our nation’s storytelling and cultural narrative.  ... [read more]

An act of courage submission for the 1000 Acts of Courage campaign – a community-building conscious action campaign collecting one thousand courageous acts for the well-being, empowerment, and equity of girls and women:

I was a young 26-year old director at the YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee at one of their branches. I started finding myself unawaringly helping not only the young girls working for me but women members I had become friends with. I became a mentor, coach, sister, friend, advisor, and social worker. Often times I put myself in extremely dangerous situations which I didn’t think twice about until I told someone what I did and they brought it to my attention. One example, I received a call from a young female staff member around 2:30 am to come get her because her boyfriend was beating her and pulled out a gun and was going to kill her. She trapped herself in a room and told me where to come and I helped her escape out of a window. She always hugged and kissed me when I saw her and said I saved her life. ... [read more]

An act of courage submission for the 1000 Acts of Courage campaign – a community-building conscious action campaign collecting one thousand courageous acts for the well-being, empowerment, and equity of girls and women:

In 1995 I applied to be the first female police officer in a department of over 50 male officers (INNJ). It took strength and determination to complete the police academy that was all male. I then entered a department of all male officers who were not happy to have a female in the room. I have a lot of experiences and stories, but it made me who I am today. I made changes in our department – I was able to be there for female victims, resolve hostage negotiations, supervised our crime prevention unit, and so much more. I prepared our department for future female officers. I loved my experience and the person I am today!  ... [read more]

An act of courage submission for the 1000 Acts of Courage campaign – a community-building conscious action campaign collecting one thousand courageous acts for the well-being, empowerment, and equity of girls and women:

As I’ve moved through my fourth decade on this planet, I have become acutely aware of the many ways that our patriarchal society – both implicitly and explicitly – teaches girls and women about our “role,” our worth and our “place.” I am so often dismissed or second guessed by men that I find myself actively avoiding many situations in which I would need to associate with men that I don’t know. I have created my own safe spaces in my life where I surround myself with powerful, confident women and reflective, self-aware men. ... [read more]