At Rethreaded, we have heard survivors say time and time again that they have not felt that they have had permission to dream big, and at times I have felt that way myself. To truly break the cycle of the sex trade women need to be empowered to dream as big as they wish. That’s why this year we are focusing on advocacy, career building and leadership training through the Survivor Development Program.

Last week, we went to the Eighth Annual Professional Development Forum, Finding Your True North & Keeping It presented by the UNF Coggin College of Business student-led organization Women in Business Society. For one of our employees, it was the first time she had been invited to attend a professional event like this. We were very excited for the opportunity. We attended workshops where they talked about effective leadership, finding personal strengths and discussed the results of personality tests. One of the most impactful moments for one of them woman was during a session where the professor identified her as having the highest dominance score in the room. He spoke about the quality as an asset and encouraged her in her role as a leader. In a moment, what she saw as something negative in herself now had value. She said, “I knew that I had certain skills but for a long time I didn’t think it possible for these to translate into anything purposeful or meaningful in life. Recently, I have started to have a shift in perspective and heard other people around me saying the same thing.”

We left the event feeling confident that we can use our skills to empower others and felt inspired to grow into the leaders we are created to be. For us this was just more confirmation that people believe in us and because of it, we are more comfortable with who we are.

At Rethreaded, we hear more and more every day that survivors are finding their hopes and dreams again. Help us to keep igniting passion and purpose into the lives of survivors by donating the Survivor Development Program.