On September 7, 2017, Sarah Gillett from Beringia Community Planning joined Kaska Elder Fannie Vance, Youth for Safety participant Piper Allen, and facilitator Julie Laliberte to accept the IAP2 Core Values Award for Indigenous Engagement at a gala in Denver Colorado.

Youth for Safety is a project initiated by the Liard Aboriginal Women’s Society that recognizes the need for active female and male Youth engagement and leadership in addressing the issue of violence against young women and girls. This unique local response to sexualized violence is grounded in Kaska cultural principles around safety and dignity. A group of Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Youth were engaged in a process of exploring issues of violence against young women and girls to then get actively involved in developing community safety campaigns, thus becoming engagement leaders in their community.

Here are a few quotes from project participants:

“Change has to start with our young people. Being part of the change makes me happy. I’m really proud to be able to change our community and make it safe for our community” – Youth participant

“It’s a very nice feeling, when everybody gets together and really puts their head down, it’s pretty cool to see some of the work that can be done” – Youth participant

“The impact of the project is rippling out into community” – Inter-agency representative