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

New RALIANCE Grants Will Advance Projects and Initiatives Preventing Sexual Violence and Supporting Survivors in Communities Across the United States

WASHINGTON, Jan. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- RALIANCE, a national partnership dedicated to ending sexual violence in one generation, announced today that it will award a total of $300,000 grants to six organizations across the United States that will deploy tools of survivor empowerment and community education to prevent sexual harassment, misconduct and abuse. 

The recipients for the 2023 RALIANCE Impact grant program are: Healing to Action, HEART, Ministerios Fuente de Vida (Source of Life Ministries), The Commission on Eliminating Sexual Harassment and Advancing Equality in the Workplace, The HEAL Project and The Sexual Assault Center of Nashville. These six grant recipients will each receive a $50,000 grant in January 2023 that will fund projects that implement organizational, systemic, or community-level prevention strategies and/or strategies that reduce the likelihood of people to sexually offend.

"RALIANCE is proud to add these exceptional grantees to our growing roster of organizations making positive impacts in their communities," said Sandra Henriquez, a Managing Partner at RALIANCE. "Each year we strive to be more inclusive and look carefully at novel proposals and underserved populations. This year's cohort is broad and diverse which reflects our belief that everyone in every place deserves a safe society."

These grants mark the sixth round of RALIANCE's ongoing impact grant program, which will now have supported more than 75 sexual violence prevention projects with a total of $3.2 million in grant funding from the National Football League (NFL). The majority of the grant projects funded to date were awarded to programs serving people of color, LGBTQ+ communities, people with disabilities, religious minorities, immigrants, young people, and others who often are heavily impacted by sexual violence yet historically overlooked by funders.

A description of the 2023 RALIANCE Impact Grant recipients and projects are below.

Healing to Action is a Chicago-based non-profit transforming survivors into organizers and activists in the fight to end sexual violence. RALIANCE funding will support the launch of the Survivor Power Institute, an intensive two-day training for advocates and movement leaders working with survivors from communities most impacted by sexual violence—low-income communities of color, immigrant, LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer) and survivors with disabilities. "It is critical to foster survivor-leadership at a time when existing legal protections can no longer be counted on to protect survivors. With the support of RALIANCE, Healing to Action can continue to shift the culture to reduce gender-based violence by strengthening the capacity of front-line organizations to reach and build power with survivors," said Sheerine Alemzadeh and Karla Altmayer, Co-Directors of Healing to Action.

HEART is an organization committed to addressing sexual health and violence in the Muslim community. Their framework, Fulfilling Your AMANAH, teaches communities how they can work toward proactive prevention of sexual violence or the conditions that lead to it. The RALIANCE grant will help train an inaugural cohort of 50 Muslim leaders and institutions to build safer spaces and reduce barriers to disclosure by grounding in the core Islamic value of Amanah or responsibility. "At HEART, our vision for success is ambitious: to build a world where all people, including Muslims, are free of sexual violence and thrive in the communities they live, work, and pray in. We are so grateful to have the support of RALIANCE in our efforts to build the capacity of Muslim individuals, communities, and institutions to help realize this vision," said Nadiah Mohajir, Co-ED, HEART.

Ministerios Fuente de Vida, is a Glendale, California-based ministry. They are pursuing Together for Change (Junto por el Cambio), a new project to train faith communities, specifically targeting the Latino population in a sexual abuse prevention. The RALIANCE grant will help Together for Change teach leaders of the faith community about the dynamics and risks for sexual abuse and create a commitment to integrate sexual abuse prevention into programming, curriculum and structure. "We feel blessed to receive support from RALIANCE. These funds will assist us in implementing community strategies that aim to prevent sexual abuse in churches and the faith community throughout California," said Rev. Benjamin Ortega, Ministerios Fuente de Vida.

The Hollywood Commission used their 2019 Culture and Climate Survey to identify the need for better understanding of reporting structure across the panoptic Hollywood. The RALIANCE grant will be used to implement and grow Respect On Set™; a multi-pronged strategy to address systemic bias and abuse in all roles in the entertainment industry. "With the support of RALIANCE and the leadership of Chair Anita Hill, we can develop more resources, tools and policies that strengthen systems and work to end bias and harassment across Hollywood, the entertainment industry and beyond," said Malia Arrington, Executive Director and Vice President, The Hollywood Commission.

The HEAL Project is a QTBIPOC (Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color), disabled and survivor-led educational initiative working to prevent and end child sexual abuse. The Heal Project wants to employ RALIANCE grants to advance phase two of their Just Healing Training, a comprehensive five-day program helping to trace and reconcile the culture of sex, from violence to healthy relationships. "Prevention of sexual violence must go beyond individual, punitive, and short-term approaches. It is time to embrace collective healing and liberation in order to break free from the cycle of sexual harm," said Aredvi Azad, Co-Executive Director of the HEAL Project.

The Sexual Assault Center of Nashville is an organization dedicated to making the Music City safe for chasing dreams. The RALIANCE grant will help advance their bystander intervention training, Safe Tracks, which is designed specifically to shift the culture of sexual harassment and exploitation in the music industry. "We believe everyone deserves a safe space to create that is free from sexual harassment and violence. We are excited for our partnership with RALIANCE and look forward to doing our part in making Nashville the safest place to make music and chase dreams," said Jessica Barfield, Vice President Programs, The Sexual Assault Center of Nashville. 

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 that are safe, equitable, and respectful. RALIANCE offers unparalleled expertise in serving survivors of sexual harassment, misconduct, and abuse which drives our mission to help organizations across sectors create inclusive environments for all. For more information, please visit www.RALIANCE.org.

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SOURCE RALIANCE