On the road again...

I had the “notorious shirt” with me for my travels from my home base in Atlanta to London to Boston to Durham, New Hampshire.  I work as an independent consultant and a trainer, so I travel about half the time for work, mainly around the United States and Canada.  I was excited to take the shirt with me on one of my more exciting work trips. Unfortunately, my shirt photos after these first few were lost in an iPhone dropping incident, so I’ll have to focus on photos that I had uploaded to social media from my travels.

Before I leave for a long trip I make sure to both spend some time with myself and time with people who restore me. I made sure to spend extra time with my favorite self-care activities: dance breaks, coloring, meditation, and watching zombie movies. I also had lunch with my former colleague Willie , a substance abuse prevention counselor who always makes me feel more grounded. I also spent a lot of time with my partner John who is my biggest support system but who I miss a lot when I’m gone. When I’m not traveling, I work out of my home office (often in yoga pants) and spend a lot of time on the phone in my backyard. Home has become even more important to me now that I spend more time away from it. I work on my research, connect with colleagues who work to end violence on campuses around the country, write curricula, and prepare for training. 

My first trip with the shirt was to London. This was my first trip to Europe! I was presenting with my colleague Jill on our national study of campus gender-based violence advocacy and prevention programs at the international sexual violence conference at Middlesex University in Hendon. We were really excited to present our research for the first time! I also attended sessions on sexual harassment in public spaces, prevalence and incidence of sexual violence on college campuses around the world, and perpetration. It was fascinating to learn from researchers and practitioners around the world and intriguing to hear what others had heard about efforts in the United States to address gender-based violence on campus. Thinking outside of the United States context helped me expand my thinking and learn some new approaches. Connecting with passionate activists recharged me despite the jet lag. I also had amazing breakfast and tea and had some time for a whirlwind tour of the sites.

I then traveled to Boston and spent one night with my friend Meera who works at Harvard on their sexual assault prevention efforts. Time with her, no matter how brief, always inspires me and reminds me to think creatively and expansively.  I then drove to Durham to the University of New Hampshire to visit my colleagues at Prevention Innovations Research Center (PIRC). PIRC works to end sexual and relationship violence through the power of effective practitioner and researcher partnerships focusing on prevention strategies, evidence-based measures, and comprehensive community tools. I’m often traveling to facilitate regional train-the-trainers for PIRC’s Bringing in the Bystander® program, a researched and evaluated curriculum focused on campuses that uses a community of responsibility of approach.

I enjoy having the opportunity to travel and to attend both a graduate program and work for an organization in cities in which I don’t live, but it can get lonely sometimes. Spending a few days with colleagues discussing the next stages of our work was inspiring. I love working for PIRC because they value connecting research directly to practice, and we discussed opportunities to ensure that practitioners on college campuses have a direct pipeline to research and new developments. I will be managing our new member list which will allow people to connect beyond the training sessions and to receive research and practice information in real time. I hope to continue to address gender-based violence through connecting research and practice and building community capacity.

The shirt and I then returned back home to Atlanta, where I got back to my routine of working from home on curriculum development and preparing for training events; my research; and facilitating the Campus Advocates and Prevention Professionals Association (CAPPA). Now, the shirt is off to Kathleen, GA to visit Nicole!

Throughout my travels over the past year, the Notorious PGV has been a constant that has made me think, made me laugh, and helped me remember to think beyond my work to the bigger picture of our movement to end gender-based violence and advance social justice. The shirt was a tangible symbol of how I always feel like my cohort is with me on the road. Because of the hybrid nature of this program, I have been able to spend the past year getting a broader perspective while still doing research projects, engaging in classroom discussions, and building my skillset. Whether I’m chatting from 40,000 feet, an Amtrak station, a hotel room, or a coffee shop, the PGV continues to transform me as the landscape around me changes. It is because of such a supportive group of colleagues that I feel empowered to do my work every day and to work toward my next step of getting a PhD.

The work is challenging no matter what we’re doing, and my cohort is a big part of what sustains me. Through this collective, I continue to grow, change, and expand my thinking. Traveling, like the PGV, both challenges me and gives me peace. Even though we are all doing different work in different places we share a common vision: to end gender-based violence. I have hope in achieving this vision if we are in it together.