Discovery Themes by RAFT: Resilience for Advocates through Foundational Training

Room C

2026-06-09 16:53:13 UTC

1) Core elements of group members’ stories that allowed them to thrive while making a contribution:

Connection to survivorship

True spirit of collaboration

Learning from others

Connecting to survivors' healing journey

Creativity

Being grounded in the mission

Different positions as critical parts of the work

2) Themes

Space to share new ideas

Validation - hear out loud something we have been thinking about/struggling with (validation for feelings and experiences of advocates doing the work)

Timing and context doesn’t diminish our contributions, even if they’re not picked up and actioned in the moment the ideas is sparked

Taking care of one another: survivors are advocates & advocates are survivors

3) What did these stories reveal:

Those closest to the problem are closest to the solution

Team mindset, collaboration, thriving on the collective

Acknowledgement of system issues, while maintaining empathetic interpersonal relationships

Creativity & perserverence for our ideas, within the context of a challenging system

Group B

2026-06-09 16:59:02 UTC

about a high point in advocacy--themes, strengths, stories, ideas, and experiences:

-rewarding to watch client successes and the empowerment journey

-rewarding to collaborate across systems and programs

-importance of autonomy and creativity and survivor voices being centered

-recognizing opportunities to prevent burnout and respond when burnout happens

Group B

2026-06-09 17:04:57 UTC

“the positive core,” those things that give life and excellence, to anti-violence advocacy work:

-empowerment philosophy - unique and essential

-creativity and scrappiness

-putting humans first; prioritizing voices, needs, choices (social justice-centered)

-active listening

-hope for the future, for the client, for prevention

-adaptability as a superpower

Room C: Section 4 - Future of 2036

2026-06-09 17:18:59 UTC

Highlights and key elements of the future:

Seamless collaboration with partners, interconnected anti-oppression framework

Cross-system training across the anti-violence ecosystem

Continue to center in social justice, living by the values that drive survivor empowerment

More representation of the people being served, return to racial justice efforts

Improved compensation related to $ and personal support

Less focus on hierarchies that do not compensate front liners who do the heavy lifting as much

Funding for all services & specifically prevention efforts

People feel safe to speak up and people are open/receptive to feedback

Leadership builds the muscles to engage in conflict - orgs are not conflict averse

Consideration and centering of community (internal/external, all of us) = the Whole Society approach

Meaningfully including men

“No Wrong Door” warm handoffs, strong collaboration between resources

Better communication, collaboration between law enforcement and advocacy groups

Publication: The Respite

Headline: Y/OUR Legacy

Story elements:

1. His/herstory of the movement - how it started, transformed throughout the years, where we are now.

2. (BIPOC) Mothers of movement

3. Federal policies

4. State victim rights efforts

5. State of the movement today

6. Current issues, hot topics

7. Advocate school - comprehensive and consistent professional training/growth plan for advocates / skilling up advocates as staff beyond the DV/SA specific topics

Group B

2026-06-09 17:27:43 UTC

small steps, braver and bolder steps:

-taking care of each other so we can take care of clients

-BOUNDARIES - the ability to say no and not take it as a failure

-building in time for individual and collaborative reflection, debriefing, and brainstorming

-strategic collaboration with other community providers and resources

-create breathing room and support to eliminate urgency culture

2026-06-09 17:31:13 UTC

Room A: Our group had several whys. Many of us identified as survivors ourselves, which drove us to the work so that "no child or person ends up in the position we are in" and to make sure children and adults in our community are safe and protected. A group member touched on the importance of legacy and ensuring the work continues on for generations. She also shared how she is passionate about changing policy to ensure survivors are properly protected, while another group member is focused on supporting and advocating for advocates themselves. That group member shared that her why is rooted in her own personal experience, how her works helps her understand her community better, and her drive to educate others to expand the reach of the work and ensure that work is echoed throughout the community. We also discussed the importance of family and community in keeping us anchored in our work.

2026-06-09 17:38:37 UTC

Room A: Our group discussed a variety of strengths at the heart of our work. We shared the core tenets of believing survivors and practicing from a place of non-judgement, the importance of survivor autonomy, and ensuring we are also investing in prevention as well as direct service. A group member shared the foundational importance of safe housing, leadership, and supporting survivors from all backgrounds (as well as evaluating each survivor on their own, case by case, basis). Another group member touched on the importance of policy work in the anti-violence movement, advocate self care, and continuing education/training to keep skills sharp. We discussed how vital collaboration is to our anti-violence work (how we cannot do this work, alone, in a silo, or just within our organization - the work must spread throughout our networks and into our communities, especially as we work towards large cultural shifts in terms of a violence free world and combatting rape culture). We discussed how that collaboration can assist in our capacity building, and recognizing we are all connected through common goals. We discussed resiliency and recognizing occupational hazards such as burnout and secondary traumatic stress, as well as what is in our individual locus of control in terms of self care as well as the organization's responsibility towards advocates' wellbeing. We discussed how wellness is key so that we are able to serve survivors and do our best work. Lastly, and most importantly, we discussed how vital it is to stay survivor centered and grounded in the mission of our work. For future opportunities we discussed the importance of paying advocates more, diversifying streams of funding, and providing funding for advocate self care and wellness initiatives and services.

Room C: Taking Next Steps to Make Change

2026-06-09 17:46:29 UTC

Steps that advocates and organizations could take that would have the greatest impact and turn the future vision into action:

Understanding different styles of communication, honoring different perspectives

Transparent decision-making - rationale/why

Diverse employee involvement in organizational decision making

Include staff (from all levels) in designing solutions, even if all ideas are not implemented. Creates ownership and reduces turnover

Bring more collectivistic culture into the organization/restructuring hierarchies

Leadership training

Results you would see:

Long-term retention and healthy workplaces

Positive, supportive connection with former staff

Fewer gaps in services for survivors

Overall organizational sustainability

Rates of violence (interpersonal/community/societal) are actually reducing

A more just community in practice

Better equipped leaders

More equitable distribution of power

More staff engagement

Shared responsibilities and wins

Braver and bolder steps:

Transparency about the budget, pay, benefits; money matters are less secretive

Having a nonprofit for the nonprofit - NNEDV?

Share the burden - lean in on your staff to find solutions

Move away from "need to know" mindset (which is rooted in paternalism, scarcity, power hoarding, etc.)

Transparency, accountability, and co-creation across the org - all levels + board

Interpersonal connection across any hierarchies

Flexible funding for organizations, advocates and survivors

Divesting from funding?

2026-06-09 17:47:01 UTC

Room A: Our group shared a variety of thoughts/dreams for an incredible anti-violence organization in 2036. The core themes were: higher pay/more funding, community buy in and ownership of antiviolence work, and the importance of creating a legacy and inspiring the next generation to continue the work.

We discussed how the professionalism of victim advocacy work and placing it at the same level as other, respected, professions could assist organizations in "justifying" the proper pay for the difficult work we all do. We discussed the importance of ensuring advocates, and their families, have their basic needs met through health insurance, childcare, and increased salaries. We touched on our hope that in the future community buy in could lead to concrete initiatives such as ensuring EVERYONE is trained in anti-violence work as part of standard onboarding wherever they work or go to school (such as how to recognize and report violence, how to support survivors, etc.) and having that training required through state laws and school policy. We discussed our future organization growing services in underserved regions, such as rural communities, and ensuring there are not limits (such as age limits or limit to the number of sessions) to survivor services. We all hope this will be possible in the next decade and that this work continues to grow!