Inside the Suit

B Whitney, Program Coordinator, brings decades of experience teaching acting to their work at IMPACT. Their work is essential to helping our suited instructors learn their craft. In IMPACT self-defense classes, instructors fall into two categories: Coach and Suit. The...

Making an IMPACT in Turbulent Times

Economic stress is all around us, from the federal government shutdown to higher grocery and health care costs. We have been incredibly grateful at IMPACT for the generosity of our donors as they are helping us continue our commitment to not turning anyone away for...

National Sexual Assault Conference 2025

Empowerment Self-Defense leaders from the east coast and west coast, from urban and rural areas, from cities and sovereign tribal land came together to connect, collaborate, and strategize. Empowerment Self-defense Alliance table with Shanda Poitra (Turtle Mountain...

Governor Healey, Stop Punishing Survivors!

We at IMPACT Boston were horrified to hear Governor Healey’s announcement that her administration is planning to build a new women’s prison complex estimated at $360 million. Shortly after that announcement, we learned that Massachusetts is cutting $7 million from...

Embracing Discomfort As a Source of Power 

Earlier this month, I attended the Massachusetts Women of Color Network’s annual “Superhero Effect” conference in Quincy, MA. This was one of many firsts for me since joining the IMPACT Boston team at the end of May, and it was a very memorable experience. Women (cis-...

Martial Arts Culture

When teaching classes for IMPACT, we often encourage students to decide for themselves whether they want to talk about what they learned to people in their lives. Some of our students might encounter friends or relatives who disparage the skills they have acquired...