RALIANCE Awards $300,000 in Grants for Projects to End Sexual Harassment, Misconduct and Abuse

New RALIANCE Grants Will Accelerate Initiatives in Communities Across the United States to Make Organizations, Systems and Communities Safer

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- RALIANCE, a trusted adviser for organizations committed to creating equitable, respectful, and safe environments, announced today that it will award a total of $300,000 in grants to six organizations across the United States that are entrenched in their communities working to support survivors and prevent sexual harassment, misconduct, and abuse. In 2022, RALIANCE and the National Football League (NFL) announced the renewal of its grant partnership to expand RALIANCE's efforts to offer more resources and grant funding to organizations at the intersection of sexual misconduct prevention and social justice.

The recipients of the 2024 RALIANCE Impact grant are Alaska Children's Trust, Beyond Harm, Creative Justice, The Good Foot Arts Collective, Southeast Asian Freedom Network and Women's and Children's Alliance. These six grant recipients will each receive a $50,000 grant that will fund projects that empower survivors, implement organizational, systemic, or community-level prevention strategies and/or reduce the likelihood of people to sexually offend.

"RALIANCE is honored to welcome these exceptional grantees to our growing roster of organizations making positive impacts in their communities," said Yolanda Edrington, a Managing Partner at RALIANCE. "This year's cohort stands out in the innovative ways many are using the arts and creativity as a transformative tool. We strive for the program to be inclusive and prioritize the underserved, including Indigenous and refugee communities, as a reflection of our belief that everyone in every place deserves a safe society."

These grants mark the seventh round of RALIANCE's ongoing impact grant program, which will now have supported more than 80 sexual violence prevention projects with a total of $3.5 million in grant funding from the NFL. Through this latest round of funding, RALIANCE will support initiatives in new communities, spanning various geographic regions across the U.S. and territories. The majority of the grant projects funded to date were awarded to programs serving communities historically undersupported by funders, including people of color, LGBTQ+ communities, people with disabilities, religious minorities, immigrants, and young people.

A description of the 2024 RALIANCE Impact Grant recipients and projects are below.

Alaska Children's Trust, based in Anchorage, will implement Pathway to Hope (PTH), an indigenous and community-centered framework, which assists survivors in healing from child sexual abuse and communities in preventing future acts of child sexual abuse. PTH is an evidence-based initiative created by and for Alaska Native communities. "Alaska has the highest rate of sexual violence in the nation and our children and youth are not immune from it. We are excited to partner with RALIANCE in our shared vision of ending sexual violence, which includes child sexual abuse. Their investment in our work will amplify our initiative to ensure every child thrives in safety and security," said Trevor Storrs, President and CEO of the Alaska Children's Trust.

Beyond Harm's project will focus on interrupting cycles of sexual violence at Dillard University, a local HBCU campus in New Orleans, by targeting behavior change in the person using violence. This project builds on years of partnership between Dillard University and Beyond Harm staff and offers an essential intervention that does not currently exist: a pathway for the person who caused the violence to change. Beyond Harm will use an evidence-based, cognitive-behavioral therapy curriculum, Science-Based Treatment, Accountability, and Risk Reduction for Sexual Assault (STARRSA), addressing the risk factors, learned behaviors, and belief system that led to perpetration. "RALIANCE's support for our program is an investment in upstream, community-based solutions to sexual violence. Addressing campus sexual violence head-on with those who perpetrate, while using survivor-centered and restorative approaches, must be central if we are serious about ending this epidemic. RALIANCE's support allows us to offer new pathways to change and help to transform campuses into actual safe spaces, free from sexual violence," said Amanda Tonkovich, Co-Director, Beyond Harm.

Creative Justice (CJ), based in Seattle, WA, will work to interrupt systems of harm while creating restorative spaces through their innovative HEAL (Healing Education for Accountability and Liberation) Program. CJ builds community with young people impacted by the criminal legal and child welfare systems by facilitating arts-based, healing-engaged spaces, disrupting the harm caused by oppression, healing trauma by offering affirming opportunities and community connections, while simultaneously advocating with traditional systems of punishment for impacted young people to remain in the community with the supports necessary to thrive. "Building safer communities means addressing the root causes of violence and establishing a social safety net that works for all. Because this work (prevention, healing, care, and accountability) requires many hearts and hands, we are humbled to be a part of a network of organizations that are partnering with those communities most impacted by interpersonal and systemic violence to facilitate spaces for healing, accountability and collective care because this is what will ultimately generate more safety for us all and prevent sexual and gender-based violence," said Nikkita Oliver, Executive Director, Creative Justice.

The Good Foot Arts Collective, based in Seattle, WA, will implement NO Excuses, a community campaign that advocates for safety and empowers youth to build an environment of NO tolerance for violence, sexual misconduct, toxic behavior or abuse in BIPOC youth communities and in the Hip Hop dance community. "Through this support from RALIANCE, we will be able to expand the reach of NO Excuses to other cities and Hip Hop leaders by empowering them with knowledge about sexual misconduct and assault, culturally-congruent tools for addressing and preventing it, and healing. We will be able to offer barrier free access to trainings that will support the growth and safety of their Hip Hop community," said Chi May Praseuth, Executive Director, The Good Foot Arts Collective.

Southeast Asian Freedom Network (SEAFN) of Bronx, NY will create, implement, and evaluate how to best prevent sexual violence internally and externally in organizations and community spaces. This will include the creation of an organizational assessment tool that evaluates and finds opportunities to enhance organizational policies and practices to prevent sexual violence in SEAFN member organizations across the country. "Our project will be implemented in an underserved and often invisible population since the Asian American diaspora narrative often leaves out these particular Southeast Asian communities, who have often had the least resources," said Chhaya Chhoum, Executive Director, Southeast Asian Freedom Network.

Women's and Children's Alliance will establish, support, and promote culturally responsive norms and practices that protect against violence and support youth in the Boise refugee/resettled community through the Advancing Communities Together (ACT) Project. Upon completion of the ACT Project, a toolkit (including culturally specific and translated resources for community messaging and data collection) informed by evaluation results will be produced, which will allow for replication. "The Boise area is home to a unique and resilient community of individuals and families who have experienced resettlement, many of whom have experienced trauma and adversity on their journeys to Idaho. This grant will help us to better understand the unique needs, strengths and cultural context necessary to better support this diverse community and create meaningful violence prevention programming," said Tracy Darling-DeMarcus, Prevention Program Manager, Women's and Children's Alliance.

Learn more about the RALIANCE Impact Grant program at www.raliance.org/grant-program/grants.

ABOUT RALIANCE

RALIANCE is a trusted adviser for organizations committed to building cultures and environments that are safe, equitable and respectful. RALIANCE offers unparalleled expertise in supporting survivors of sexual harassment, misconduct and abuse and has established relationships with a national network of sexual assault service providers and prevention experts. Our mission is to help organizations across sectors create positive and inclusive environments for all. Visit RALIANCE.org for more information.

SOURCE RALIANCE