The Safety and Leadership Alliance is returning to Kurdistan at the end of September!

The trip that inspired this entire organization was to Dohuk, Kurdistan, in the summer of 2018. Our small team of self-defense instructors travelled to several refugee camps, home to 15,000 Yazidi internally displaced persons with the simple goal to teach personal safety to women and girls who had been targeted for violence.

On the first day, 20 students appeared, and word spread quickly. By the third morning, 90 women and girls ranging from age five to eighteen were training together. That afternoon an equally large group of men participated in their own training session. All of them had been driven from their homes. Many had been kidnapped for years. When asked why they participated in the self-defense training, they all said versions of what one girl expressed:

- “I have to be stronger. I have to be able to fight back if they come for us again.”

The SLA recognizes that true empowerment requires a long-term solution; a trauma-informed program that ignites lasting, independent change. The organizational model toward identifying local talent and certifying them as instructors, ensuring that the community's safety capabilities survive and continue independent of foreign support.

Our 2026 Vision for Dohuk

The upcoming project aims to establish a fully self-sustaining personal safety and leadership program. Instead of just providing temporary training, the team is making an 18-month commitment to build a permanent local infrastructure.

Your support for this campaign directly funds:

Local Instructor Certification: We are training and funding members of these communities to become the permanent leaders, coaches, and inspirations for the next generation.
Community Training Facilities: We are investing in the physical infrastructure needed for long-term success, providing equipment like training mats, apparel, and gloves.
Economic Investment: We are sourcing training gear from local vendors and hiring local translators and guides to invest directly back into the Dohuk economy.

How You Can Help*

We have already bought the tickets, and every donation goes directly toward funding this course: Covering the remaining travel expenses, buying local training equipment, upgrading facilities, and hiring local guides, translators, and coaches.

Join us in turning the lessons of survival into a legacy of empowerment. Donate today to help these humans lead their own futures.

*The Safety And Leadership Alliance has applied for federal 501(c)3 status. This application can take as long as six months to process. While we do not have our non-profit status yet, once we obtain it, donations you make now can be retroactively categorized as charitable donations.

Safety and Leadership Return to Kurdistan, September 2026!

We're going back to place that inspired the creation of the SLA.