EDUCATION about and PREVENTION against gender and relationship violence
SUMMER 2021 NEWSLETTER Jana’s Campaign Welcomes Two New Education & Prevention Specialists Rachel Moravek received a Bachelor of Science in Sociology and a certificate in Women and Gender Studies from Fort Hays State University this past May. During her undergraduate experience, she conducted research projects on rurality and domestic violence. Rachel shared, “as a Hays native, I am looking forward to aiding in the domestic violence prevention movement in rural areas.” In addition, she is eager to equip students and higher education professionals, across the nation, with tools to better respond and prevent violence. Rachel will be working in the Hays, KS National Headquarters office.
Evelyn Dubey is a recent graduate of Baker University, where she completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Health. During her time as a student, she focused on enlightening others about important public health issues, including gender and relationship violence. “I am beyond excited to begin educating and giving individuals the tools necessary to prioritize, not only their personal safety in relationships, but the safety of those around them.” Evelyn continued, “it is evident how much of an impact Jana made in the world, and I am eager to continue sharing her story to all those who need to hear it.” Evelyn will be housed in Holton, KS, alongside our partners at the Topeka YWCA Center for Safety and Empowerment.
Mark Your Calendars! Empty Place at the Table to take Place in October 2021 Save the Date for our upcoming annual Empty Place at the Table fundraising event. This year, we are planning to hold the event in-person and virtually on Saturday, October 30. For those who plan to join us in-person, Empty Place at the Table will be held at the Rose Garden Banquet Hall in Hays, KS. We look forward to bringing together all of our supporters, donors, and friends to celebrate our prevention education efforts across the state and beyond! The evening will feature a festive cocktail hour, dinner, live entertainment, a raffle, along with both a silent and live auction. You won’t want to miss this great time for a great cause! Learn more at www.janascampaign.org/annual-empty-place-at-the-table.
EDUCATION about and PREVENTION against gender and relationship violence
SECONDARY EDUCATION Development of Elementary Age Level Programs The Youth Advisory Council (YAC) is a team of servant-leaders who advise Jana’s Campaign on all of our secondary education programming and bring valuable youth perspectives to the organization. Most recently, the YAC has taken on a large project to create activity stations with the purpose of educating Kindergarten through 5th grade students on character development, anti-bullying strategies, and empathy lessons. Members of the YAC meet on a monthly basis to organize and develop the stations. It is their hope to reach younger students with the lessons they wish they were taught prior to reaching middle school. ThomasMarion Prep Senior and Jana’s niece, Alexis Mackey, will lead the efforts in implementing this project in Hays, KS over the next year.
Data from Secondary Education Programming to be Featured in Publication Jana’s Campaign was invited to submit a chapter proposal to “Tales Untold – Understanding GenderBased Violence and Rurality in the 21st Century,” by faculty in the Criminal Justice Department at Fort Hays State University. The series will focus on evidence-based and theoretically driven research to promote the understanding of gender-based violence and rurality, and best practices in victim services. Some of the most surprising findings from our prevention education work are through an activity utilized to better understand gender-based violence behaviors and to gather data on the frequency of teen dating violence. Our submission was accepted and the chapter will focus on the assessment data collected from this activity, representing 103 middle and high schools in Kansas, Colorado, and Nebraska with over 7,466 students.
HIGHER EDUCATION Save the Date! Two Upcoming Regional Campus Safety Summits Campus Safety Summits are regional and affordable conferences that bring together representatives from all aspects of campus life to share best practices, discuss strategies, and learn from each other. Campus leaders are encouraged to develop a team of key stakeholders to create a comprehensive and integrated approach to preventing and responding to gender-based violence at their institutions. Join us for the two upcoming Summits: the virtual Midwest Campus Safety Summit is scheduled for September 15-24, 2021, and will take place through a series of live and on-demand webinars. The Heartland Campus Safety Summit is scheduled for November 17-18, 2021, at Johnson County Community College. Thanks to our Summit sponsors we are able to keep the registration fees extremely affordable for both the virtual and in-person Summits. We view this as an opportunity to reach even more colleges and universities. To learn more about the upcoming Summits, visit www.janascampaign.org/higher-education.
COMMUNITY EDUCATION Jana’s Campaign Personnel Presents at National Conference Jana’s Campaign board and staff members presented two online sessions for the 2021 Virtual Conference on Crimes Against Women (CCAW). The mission of CCAW is to provide a national forum to disseminate the highest level of training, information, and strategies to professionals who are responders and advocates to victims of the many and varied forms of gender-based violence including domestic violence, human trafficking, sexual assault, and strangulation. For the 2022 conference, Kaiti Dinges, Executive Director, will serve on the National Advisory Council for the conference, joining national experts and practitioners from across the country.
Online Community Awareness & Education On a monthly basis, the Jana’s Campaign team provides Purple Chair Chats online, through Facebook Live. The purpose of these “chats” is to raise awareness, engage bystanders, promote healthy and respectful relationships, and encourage the development of new social norms. The chats were developed to encourage more conversations around the issues of gender-based violence. Each month, we will take a deep dive into topics related to gender and relationship violence including societal aspects that contribute to gender-based violence, rape culture, the severity of gender and relationship violence in our communities, teen dating violence, stalking, sexual assault, as well as why gender-biased attitudes and behaviors in society can be the leading causes of violence.
Grant Funding to Support Faith-Based Community Trainings This spring, Jana’s Campaign received nearly $15,000 in grant funding from #BeMoreLikeClaire (Lawrence, KS) and the Heartland Community Foundation (Hays, KS) to provide two regional faith-based community trainings with domestic violence expert, Julie Owens. Julie is a survivor of domestic violence who has worked in the field of violence against women and women’s empowerment since 1989. Julie faced obstacles when she turned to the church for help attempting to leave her abusive relationship. It was not until Julie’s abuser attempted to kill her and her father that she received the support she needed to leave the relationship safely. These important resources will assist our efforts to conduct educational trainings for faith leaders and communities to better understand the use of power and control in violent relationships and encourage new social norms within faith communities to ultimately prevent gender-based violence. Jana’s Campaign is proud to partner with #BeMoreLikeClaire and the Heartland Community Foundation to provide these important trainings. Dates and locations of trainings to be announced.
INTERNAL NEWS & FUNDRAISING Executive Director Institute For the past 6 months, Kaiti Dinges has attended Nonprofit Connect’s Executive Director Institute (EDI). EDI is a bi-weekly virtual learning opportunity exclusively for nonprofit executive directors. Course content weaves together theory, experience, and context to help leaders evolve, keep up with best practices, and learn new ways to creatively deal with the full range of organizational issues. “The lessons, skills, and relationships from EDI are invaluable as I work to increase the scale and scope of our work. I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to learn from nonprofit experts across the state of Kansas and beyond.”
Your Gift Makes a Difference Jana’s Campaign is embarking on a national fundraising campaign seeking to raise $1,000,000 over the next 24 months. These funds will allow us to take our prevention work to the next level. Over the last 12 years, we have proven our prevention model works and its impact has had lasting effects across the United States. Now it is time for us to take drastic action to make an even bigger impact. The Campaign for Change is designed to increase the scale and scope of our work. This project will allow us to improve and expand our gender-based violence prevention education programs in elementary, middle, and high schools, colleges, and universities, as well as our work with communities. Through individual, corporate, and foundation donors, and with our earned income, we hope you will help us meet or exceed our goal by May 2023.
2021 Staff Retreat This past month, Jana’s Campaign staff, volunteers, and board president attended a two-day, strategic planning retreat in Council Grove, KS. The purpose of the retreat was to team build, discuss and create goals for the upcoming year, and learn more about Jana and the history of Jana’s Campaign. In addition, staff enjoyed time away in Jana’s Kingdom and getting to know one another.
Presentations & Trainings Available Jana’s Campaign staff and board members are available to provide gender and relationship violence prevention education programs in your schools, organizations, or communities. These programs can be provided online or in-person to meet your needs. Our team provides engaging and impactful presentations appropriate for all age groups, all at little to no cost. To inquire about scheduling a presentation, please call 785-656-0324.
Stay connected with us!
www.janascampaign.org | janascampaign@gmail.com | 785-656-0324