Hi, I'm Monica

I started working in sexual assault prevention in my youth. I worked with the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center (KCSARC) through a program called P.O.P! (Power of Prevention) from 2011-2013. P.O.P! was a group of LGBTQ+ and allied youth who worked on consent projects in South King County. One prominent project we worked on was an age of consent card, which detailed Washington State age of consent laws in an accessible way. These cards were distributed to businesses throughout King County. This sparked a new found love of sexual assault prevention and comprehensive sex education. 

 

I attended Western Washington University (WWU) and received my Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Services with a minor in Psychology. As a Human Services major I interned with Consultation and Sexual Assault Support Services (CASAS) working on a violence prevention program plan, specifically with WWU’s rugby team. We educated the team on consent, alcohol consumption, and sexual assault laws in Washington State. 

 

While getting my Master’s in Social Work at the University of Washington, my first-year practicum placement was with Domestic Abuse Women’s Network (DAWN). At DAWN, I worked on the 24/7 crisis line, performed intakes, served as a therapist for domestic violence survivors, and supported the women’s shelter. My second year practicum placement, on the other hand, was with the Harborview Abuse & Trauma Center (HATC). HATC hired me on as a Sexual Assault Prevention Specialist which is where I remained employed for 4 years (5 years total). At HATC, I wrote and taught comprehensive sexual health education, did policy analyses, did trainings and presentations for schools and youth serving organizations on topics relating to boundaries, healthy relationships, mandated reporting, and consent, wrote resources, and worked directly with students in the community through collaboration and club development.