TakingITGlobal

The Rural Safety Network VEDANSHI VALA SOCIAL JUSTICE Vedanshi Vala believes in empowering young people to instigate positive change within their communities. As the Co-Founder and Executive Director of BOLT Safety Society, a youth-founded non-profit platform dedicated to ending violence, harassment, and abuse through community-driven initiatives, Vedanshi is at the forefront of social transformation. Her Sprout Ideas project, 'The Rural Safety Network,' aimed to extend BOLT's urban initiatives to underserved rural communities. "We were able to host two workshops," Vedanshi explains. "One at the IBeyond Conference at The Pinnacle Hotel Harbourfront, where we addressed the lack of resources in rural BC communities and shared our Sprout Ideas project with an audience of 87 students. Our second workshop, though smaller in size, was hosted in Squamish, BC, for staff members of Trickster's Hideout, a bar and one of our new Safe Hubs partners." Safe Hubs, integral to BOLT's programming, are businesses listed on their platform as ready to provide shelter for those experiencing domestic abuse. The impact of this initiative was immediate, with staff members at Trickster's Hideout reporting instances of individuals seeking help. Thanks to the resources provided by BOLT Safety Society, the staff was equipped to respond effectively, underscoring the vital role of such initiatives in fostering community safety. Vedanshi's project made strides towards several SDGs, including Good Health and Well-being (Goal 3), Gender Equality (Goal 5), Reduced Inequalities (Goal 10), Sustainable Cities and Communities (Goal 11), and Partnerships for the Goals (Goal 12). However, she emphasizes that the BOLT team itself also benefited immensely from the project. "A lot of our SDG analysis focuses on how the project contributed to others in the community," Vedanshi reflects. "But I'd like to take a moment to talk about the internal positive effect this project had on our team. We promoted the health and well-being of the team members by providing them with meaningful opportunities to serve their community and build something meaningful with their peers." Looking ahead, Vedanshi and her team remain committed to their mission. "We are currently producing a global documentary and multi-continental research project. The footage from interviews from this Sprout Ideas project will contribute to those projects and help our comparative analysis of BC rural resources with, say, Toronto urban resources, or Kenyan or Indian resources. It is our hope that this project will serve as an invaluable tool to help inform future interventions to advance the SDGs on a global scale by identifying gaps, needs, and existing work across various global communities." 37 SPROUT IDEAS FELLOWSHIP IMPACT REPORT

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