Featured at Sundance, a force on our project: meet Mia Goldman

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Using her voice and her story to create change: meet Mia Goldman.

Voices and Faces Project member Mia Goldman's feature film, "Open Window" - an official selection at the Sundance Film Festival - explores the long term effects of sexual violence on the victim and those closest to her. Grounded in Mia's own story of living through rape, "Open Window" is a powerful demonstration of how survivor stories, told in groundbreaking ways, can raise awareness of the issue of violence against women. Mia's film, now available on DVD, is also used in "The Stories We Tell," The Voices and Faces Project's two-day testimonial writing workshop for survivors of sexual violence, domestic violence and trafficking. We're inspired by Mia's courage, her vision and her powerful story. And The Voices and Faces Project has, in turn, inspired Mia:

“The Voices and Faces Project is like dew in the desert. To those who are victims of sexual violence it is a home where they can transform whatever experience has separated them from their life, their family, and who they are, into a unique creative voice that can heal them, using community, work, art and ideas that elevate them.” — Mia Goldman

The Voices and Faces Project, recently named one of "America's Best Charities" by the board of directors of Independent Charities of America, has been recognized by the United States Department of Justice as part of the "new generation" of anti-violence leaders. We're working to change minds, hearts and social policy by helping survivors to tell their stories and by introducing those stories into the public square. We need your support to continue our work.

Be the Change: Our Voices and Faces Project keynote at the Quad Cities Convention Center.
On September 27th,Voices and Faces Project founder Anne K. Ream spoke to an audience of 450 community leaders and opinion shapers at the "Honor the Women" luncheon at the Quad Cities Convention Center in Iowa. In "Be the Change: Stories from The Voices and Faces Project," Anne shared the narratives of eight survivors of sexual and domestic violence who are members of our project, connecting each of their experiences to a call for increased funding for rape crisis centers. The luncheon also featured a performance by singer Michelle Anthony, who is featured on our first Voices and Faces Project benefit CD, and the photography of Patricia Evans, our project photographer. Listen to the interview with Anne Ream to find out more about the beginnings of The Voices and Faces Project, the power of our documentary initiative, and why she thinks "victim" shouldn't be a bad word.

We met our match (and we love it).
Thanks to our generous individual Voices and Faces Project supporters - along with the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Goldblatt Family Fund, and Mt. Mary College - we were able to raise the $25,000 needed to receive a matching grant from the William H. Donner Foundation. The Donner Foundation grant will support our general operating expenses, the expansion of our testimonial writing workshop, and our communications efforts focused on the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act. A special thanks to Donner Foundation Trustee Stephanie Hanson for her support of this matching grant program. Stephanie, we couldn't have done it without you.

Challenging the status quo: Our CounterQuo community meets in Boston, Mass.
In 2008, Boston-based Victim Rights Law Center and The Voices and Faces Project joined forces to launch CounterQuo, a national campaign to challenge legal and media responses to sexual violence. On October 13th and 14th, Voices and Faces Project member Katie Feifer moderated a two-day meeting of national leaders from the anti sexual violence movement, who discussed how the rights and representations of sexual violence survivors are impacted by law, communications, and the public engagement of survivors. To find out more, visit counterquo.org. And a special thanks to our Counterquo co-founders and leadership committee: Stacy Malone, Charlotte Pierce- Baker, Susan Estrich, Katie Feifer, Georgia Murray, Jessie Mindlin, Anne K. Ream and Susan Vickers.

41 states and three continents: Our Voices and Faces Project lecture and workshop series.
We founded The Voices and Faces Project to bring the names, faces and stories of survivors of sexual violence and trafficking to the attention of the public. No program has helped us do that more effectively than our Speakers Bureau, which has taken our team to 3 continents and now - thank you, Iowa! - 41 US states. Find out more about our available Voices and Faces Project lectures, and contact us to bring one of our 9 lectures or workshops to your community.

Giving Peace a Chance (thanks, Christa!)
On October 27th,Voices and Faces member Christa Desir was part of a panel on Gender, Empowerment & Sexuality at the 2012 Chicago Peace Conference. Panelists discussed the importance of empowering both women and men who have lived through injustice, and also talked about how critical it is to listen, believe, and speak out on behalf of those in marginalized communities. Special thanks to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs for their invitation to speak at this conference.

"The Stories We Tell," our Voices and Faces Project Testimonial Writing Workshop, returns to Chicago.
"The Stories We Tell," the country's first testimonial writing workshop for survivors of sexual violence, domestic violence and trafficking, will travel to 5 North American cities before the end of 2012 — and it's coming back to Chicago. Our two day workshop, created by R. Clifton Spargo, an award-winning writer and Arts Fellow at the Iowa Writers Workshop, will be November 10th and 11th, 2012 at Chicago's Rape Victim Advocates. Find out more.

Celebrate "A Perfect Holiday" with CAASE and The Voices and Faces Project.
Join us for our 4th annual Perfect Holiday! The event will include decadent desserts, festive cocktails and a fabulous silent auction featuring items from local restaurants, local entertainment, spas and sports, along with art from a list of acclaimed contemporary artists that includes Patricia Evans, Doug Fogelson, Vera Klement, Layne Jackson, Lee Tracy & others.
When: Saturday, December 15, 2012, 8:00PM - 11:00PM
Where: Chicago Cultural Center - Preston Bradley Hall, 78 E. Washington St., Chicago IL
Tickets: $60 online and $70 at the door. Online ticket sales end at 5 p.m. on Friday Dec. 14. Buy your tickets now!

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