Dear visitor,

Through advocacy, I've brought together communities to introduce and highlight a vulnerable population that's heavily underserved. Having become an ally, I feel my role is to spread awareness about commercial sex exploitation. I wholeheartedly believe in the services RIA provides and want to help them raise more funding so they can continue to do their good work.

In 2021, I organized my first fundraiser for RIA and discovered how many people were interested in learning more about what they do. I collaborated with the WBG Connects board the following year to host another fundraiser at St. John Knits in Boston.

Then, after being invited to join their organizing committee for the 2023 fundraising gala, I decided to donate my time and skills to their Immersion Experience subcommittee. Over six months, our small team created a walk-through exhibit with the goal of helping gala attendees understand why there is a need for RIA's organization in Massachusetts. We did this using statistics and research and drew from the experiences of the survivors' stories shared with us by the RIA board. I learned how difficult it is to gain accurate information and how thoughtful our committee needed to be about the language we used.

The hardest task was coming up with respectful language, for many phrases or analogies we thought were okay to use were easily misinterpreted. With the board's blessing, we set up a compelling exhibit, which helped with the fundraising call to action on the night of the gala.

This past Winter, Tory Burch's team partnered with me to host a shopping fundraiser at their location in Burlington, MA. They donated a portion of sales to RIA to support the tireless work RIA does for women survivors in our community. With ~30 guests in attendance and hors-d'œuvres generously donated by The Capital Grille, it became clear that hosting intimate fundraisers for RIA's benefit is how I help in my own way.

I sincerely thank you for taking the time to learn about my "why," and I hope you feel inspired to donate to this deserving nonprofit.

Most gratefully,

Jan

"DO YOU SEE" Art Immersion at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. 

RIA's 3rd Annual Gala 2023

Women's Business Group ("WBG Connects") Networking fundraiser to benefit RIA at St. John's, Boston, MA.

July 2022

RIA's first annual gala at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA.

October, 2021

"RAISE A GLASS" A fundraiser to benefit RIA at St. John's in Boston, MA.

July, 2021