A Soft-Spoken Woman Finds Her Voice

Help Me Support Impact Bay Area
Voices Strong on #GivingTuesday

Dear reader,

In the spirit of the giving season, I thought I'd share my story and voice my support for a local nonprofit that has given me so much.

When I decided to stay in the Bay Area after college and live on my own, safety became a real concern for me. I became obsessed with crime statistics and police reports for the last five years of an area before I agreed to put down a deposit and commit to an apartment. I trained in martial arts for years but even as I advanced in ranks my fears did not subside.

Finally I decided to take an Impact class and I discovered that while I knew how to be polite - kind, even - I did not know how to ask to be left alone. It wasn’t something I’d picked up in school or martial arts, and it wasn’t something I realized I’d been missing until I started class . Wow, was I glad to have figured that out in a safe, respectful environment!

Asking to be left alone - to occupy my physical space - takes many forms, it turns out. Where I expected to simply add to my physical techniques I picked up so much more. I learned decision making and boundary setting skills that have enriched my career and my personal life, and I am more and more comfortable in using these verbal skills knowing that I have physical goods that deliver should I ever need them - and I haven’t had to use them!

Now as a member of the board, and an instructor-in-training, I feel a deep, personal commitment to the nonprofit that has given me so much. I am proud to be a member of this community and want to see its mission thrive, and am particularly invested in developing Spanish curriculum to serve the dayworker population in the Bay Area. Please consider making a donation to make this dream come true.

#GivingTuesday is a movement created as a national giving-day to kick off the holiday season on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Even $20 brings one student closer to a scholarship, one under-served community given the tools to live fuller, richer lives. Can you help?

Here's to making an Impact! #GT #GivingTuesday,

Dani Villalobos

Volunteer & Alumni Chair, Impact Bay Area