VALOR Conversations

In this two-part, in-person VALOR Conversation, Leah Aldridge is joined by David S. Lee, VALOR’s Deputy Director, as they sit down with their mentor, Billie Weiss. Billie’s work has been foundational to the field of violence prevention, as she was one of the first to connect research on the rate of violence in 1980’s Los Angeles to sexual assault and traumatic harm.  Billie, Leah, and David discus...

In this two-part, in-person VALOR Conversation, Leah Aldridge is joined by David S. Lee, VALOR’s Deputy Director, as they sit down with their mentor, Billie Weiss. Billie’s work has been foundational to the field of violence prevention, as she was one of the first to connect research on the rate of violence in 1980’s Los Angeles to sexual assault and traumatic harm.  Billie, Leah, and David discus...

In this episode of VALOR Conversations, Leah Aldridge sits down with her colleague Grace Glaser to discuss the work behind how survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, human trafficking, and other violent crimes, facing a devastating cut of 44.7% in federal funding, harnessed their collective power and successfully advocated for the inclusion of $87 million in California’s state budget in 2...

In this episode of VALOR Conversations, Lisalyn Jacobs joins Leah Aldridge to share her journey from unexpectedly finding herself in the movement to end sexual and domestic violence, breaking down economic and restorative justice, and becoming one of the architects of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Reauthorization in 2021.  Lisalyn, Founder and CEO of Just Solutions, has spent her career pu...

En este episodio en español de Conversaciones de VALOR, Rocío Molina platica con Bamby Salcedo sobre la visibilidad trans como presencia, liderazgo y construcción de futuro. Con mucha honestidad y corazón, Bamby, Presidenta y Directora Ejecutiva de la Coalición TransLatin@, se nombra primero como servidora del pueblo y comparte cómo pasó de la sobrevivencia a la esperanza, transformando experienci...

Emma Collins and Charley Newel of Community Action Partnership, San Luis Obispo (CAPSLO), join Leah Aldridge in this episode of VALOR Conversations. As sex educators, they share how introducing youth to healthy relationship practices early on instills ideas of respect and care for one another. Through accessible education and taking students’ lived experiences, understanding, and feelings into con...

In this episode of VALOR Conversations, Sarah and Abby sit down with Leah Aldridge to discuss harm reduction: what it is, how it can be practiced to increase opportunities for prevention, and the power it has to uplift survivors of sexual violence and harm.  Friends for many years, Abby and Sarah have drawn from growing up in the punk subculture with a DIY ethos and experiences working to end sexu...

Welcome back to VALOR Conversations! This season, hosts Leah Aldridge, Marsela Rojas-Salas, Grace Glaser, and Rocio Molina sit down with advocates as they share how their experiences shaped their advocacy and work in the gender-based violence movement. In this episode, Amika Mota, the Executive Director of Sister Warriors and formerly incarcerated survivor joins VALOR Conversations to talk about h...

In this episode, Jasmine Wali, a policy, advocacy, and research consultant and organizer with Survived and Punished California, joins us to discuss the criminalization of poverty. Jasmine’s story highlights transformations for social workers to become advocates who support, not report, children and families in need.

Primera Parte / Episode 1 En nuestros primeros episodios de Conversaciones de VALOR (VALOR Conversations) en español y dividido en dos partes, Anabela Aguirre y Verónica M. Lagunas comparten sus historias transformadoras de ser conserjes inmigrantes en el turno de noche que experimentan entornos de trabajo hostiles para construir una comunidad unida y poderosa como co-fundadoras del Centro ¡Ya Bas...

Segunda Parte / Episode 2 En nuestros primeros episodios de Conversaciones de VALOR (VALOR Conversations) en español y dividido en dos partes, Anabela Aguirre y Verónica M. Lagunas comparten sus historias transformadoras de ser conserjes inmigrantes en el turno de noche que experimentan entornos de trabajo hostiles para construir una comunidad unida y poderosa como co-fundadoras del Centro ¡Ya Bas...

In this episode, Leigh LaChapelle joins VALOR Conversations once again to discuss how they transformed their lived experiences as a queer youth in South Carolina into activism as the Associate Director of Survivor Advocacy at the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST), Los Angeles. Leigh touches on the importance of showing up and caring in an unjust world as a key aspect of their wor...

In this episode, Ponny White, who started in this movement as a community youth engagement specialist and activist storyteller, discusses how she is transforming reproductive freedom advocacy through narrative-based storytelling. As a Senior Prevention Coordinator at the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault, Ponny highlights the impact of youth activism as we strive to create a more inclu...