At IMPACT Bay Area we believe that all people have a right to personal safety, regardless of their financial situation. Named in honor of our beloved former IMPACT Director, the Cori Couture Scholarship Fund provides financial assistance for our students who cannot afford the full tuition. We reserve a quarter of the spaces in each public class for scholarship recipients. We also offer discounts for not-for-profit organizations to host private classes.

IMPACT Bay Area does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, age, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical ability, financial circumstances or abuse history.

Request a Scholarship

If you have financial need and want to request a scholarship space:

1. Review our upcoming Public Classes to find the class name and date you wish to attend.
2. Email [email protected] with the name and date of the class you are interested in.
3. If there is space available, we will provide info on how to register, and also ask you to make a meaningful, affordable co-pay of your choice to reserve your space in a class. There are a limited number of scholarship spaces in each class, and your co-pay shows your commitment to the course.

About Cori Couture

Cori Couture served as IMPACT Bay Area's Executive Director and Instructor from 1995 to 2002 (in fact, Cori was around before we even had the name IMPACT)! Cori not only built the Bay Area non-profit organization we are today, she also worked to build empowerment self-defense programs at an international level through teaching students, training instructors, and helping people start chapters across this country and in many others, like England, Costa Rica, Australia, and Japan. Cori was a strong leader who took our organization to the next level with her compassion for others and her passion for personal safety. We are so grateful for her leadership and vision and the impact she made on IMPACT Bay Area. Cori passed away in 2015, but her legacy lives on every time we are able to train another student who might not otherwise have been able to attend one of our classes. To continue to help us make IMPACT available to all, please consider donating to the Cori Couture scholarship fund.

"When a woman knows she can defend herself, that she will never again be a victim, her whole life changes and that of the people around her. By never allowing anyone to hurt her, she has broken the cycle of violence. I believe that, 16 women at a time, we are changing the world!"

- Cori Couture, Founding Director

Click here to sponsor a student or contribute to our scholarship fund