You Empowered 5,000 Girls with Self Defense Skills in 2013
Because our Board of Governors underwrites 100% of our administrative costs, every dollar of your support helps make a visible impact in the lives of vulnerable children. Last year, your support helped 2012 Honoree Dallas Jessup train more than 5,000 girls around the world how to protect themselves from abuse and violence. This update comes from Dallas’ first year performance report, something we require from all of our Honorees to ensure our funding is changing young lives.
In 2012, we honored Dallas Jessup for starting Just Yell Fire, an all-volunteer run organization that is on a mission to end global abuse and violence against women and girls. Since starting Just Yell Fire in 2006, Dallas’ online self-defense training videos have gone viral. Her powerful message has now reached more than 1.5 million girls in 64 countries. Dallas used our funding to develop self-defense training manuals for teachers, produce self-defense DVDs, and tour the United States and Canada to visit some of North America’s most dangerous places to be a girl.
About Dallas
Dallas was 13 when she saw security video footage of a teenage girl being abducted in Florida on the evening news. Two days later it was announced that the girl had been murdered. With a black belt in martial arts, Dallas knew that if the girl had known basic self-defense techniques, she might have been able to escape.
Dallas decided to team up with her street fighting coach to develop a free online video to teach girls around the world self-defense skills. The video quickly went viral and eventually became Just Yell Fire, an internationally-recognized resource for girls who want to stop abuse and violence, stay safe, and learn their rights.
Leveraging our Award
In 2012, we honored Dallas with our Youth Award and the first $15,000 installment of her 2-year grant (totaling $30,000). After receiving our Award, Dallas was able to leverage our Award’s credibility and our Awards Ceremony’s visibility to raise another $3,500.
One Year Later
Just Yell Fire used our funding to train 5,000 girls in the United States and Canada how to defend themselves. Our funding also helped Just Yell Fire train 162 teachers and counselors how to teach self-defense to their students, which will ultimately impact more than 10,000 girls every year.
Last year, Dallas went on a tour across the United States and Canada to train girls living in at-risk areas. She presented self-defense techniques in Alberta, Canada, where half of all girls and women suffer from domestic abuse and dating violence, and South Carolina, the number one state with the most counts of violence against women. Dallas also presented at schools and universities in Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, California, New York and Ohio.
Other accomplishments include establishing a partnership with Alpha Omicron Pi Sorority to bring Just Yell Fire’s training program to 196 chapters at college campuses across the United States; developing a program for the FBI Human Trafficking Coalition; and working with the Minister of Education to bring Just Yell Fire to Jamaica.
Real Impact
Dallas often receives calls and emails from girls who have escaped attackers because of the training they received from Just Yell Fire. One of them came from Kayla, an 11-year-old girl, who wrote:
HI, Dallas. IM kayla, and im 11. i met this guy and him and his cousin who is 14 tried date raping me. i remembered some of the techinecques from your video, and managed to get away. thank you so much for helping me by making that video 🙂
-Kayla
Thank You from Dallas
Last December, Dallas sent us a message to thank you for empowering girls with the knowledge to defend their rights and stay safe.
“2013 was awesome. Thank you World of Children from the 2+ million girl revolution: Just Yell Fire. Many girls’ lives were positively impacted directly because of your generous support over the course of this year.” Read more >>
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. Thank you for supporting and advancing the important work of heroes like Dallas. Together, we can make 2014 a year of opportunity, happiness, and empowerment for vulnerable children everywhere. Join us >>