Iempathize

Programs: Empower youth program: the exploitation of minors is an alarming reality in the united states, and it comes in many forms, from bullying to trafficking. Iempathize is committed to equipping youth to stay safe from exploitation. Iempathize is also committed to equipping youth-serving professionals to work with youth preventatively and to effectively recognize and respond to signs of exploitation. Youth must be empowered to navigate the factors in their lives that could otherwise make them vulnerable to exploitation. Our curricular tool, the empower youth program (eyp), enables adults who are already working with youth to facilitate conversations about exploitation that empower youth with protective strategies. In addition, eyp distinguishes itself as a character education program by inspiring students to develop empathy for those around them. Since 2015, eyp has been ordered for use in over 150 schools and youth-serving organizations in 23 different states through licenses representing over 15,200 youth. In 2017, iempathize directly taught 755 additional youth to protect themselves from exploitation, and produced a new spanish-language curriculum that was piloted in mexico. In 2017, through our sponsorship-scholarship program, we granted eyp scholarships to 31 youth-serving organizations reflecting 5,120 youth. Seventy-seven percent of those scholarships were full scholarships.

be relentless: be relentless is iempathize's outreach program, designed to educate and inspire communities to promote and implement the empower youth program. Be relentless is iempathize's first full-length documentary which follows mother, survivor, and ultra-athlete, norma bastidas, as she completed the world's longest triathlon, claiming the guinness world record. Norma made this journey to empower survivors worldwide by demonstrating that one's past does not dictate one's future. Ultimately, her accomplishment is a demand that we prevent what happened to her from happening to others. Be relentless is a film and human rights campaign, with a call to action to distribute the empower youth program. This film engages and empowers audiences like never before, encouraging empathy and understanding between mexico and the united states, two countries connected and divided by a shared border. Be relentless is a catalyst for these two countries to work together to end human trafficking. Proceeds from the film fund prevention and restoration efforts benefitting vulnerable and victimized children. With the official release of be relentless in 2017, the documentary was chosen to be screened in eight film festivals internationally, and a high school screening outreach was launched. In addition, be relentless was featured at the sdg media zone during the un general assembly, the nexus summit, and the women's forum for the economy and society in mexico city.

empower adults: in 2017, we continued to promote our other education and outreach programs, which include adult training and prevention-approach workshops, and the apathy effect exhibit; all with a call to action to promote and implement the empower youth program. Iempathize trained over 700 adults in 2017 to know how to work preventatively with the youth they serve. The apathy effect exhibit is a multi-media exhibit and empowerment program geared to ignite empathy and educate and empower participants with a response to issues of exploitation. The exhibit immerses you in stories of resilient young survivors of human trafficking from around the world. The multimedia journey is told through original film, photography, and artifacts with self-guided or interactive tours adding to the experience. In 2017, the apathy effect exhibit partnered with community organizations, businesses, and universities throughout the u. S. The exhibit was experienced by over 2,000 people at events in colorado, california, tennessee, and missouri.