REACH recently welcomed our new Youth Education Specialist, Dani Patrick, to our staff. Read on to get to know Dani a little bit:
Tell us a little about yourself. (Where did you grow up/go to school/work before this?)
I spend most of my childhood in Flagstaff, Arizona before moving to Connecticut in 2009 to attend Wesleyan University. At Wesleyan, I majored in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and became interested in how domestic violence impacts diverse communities. I culminated by Wesleyan experience by designing and teaching a Wesleyan course on this topic and writing my senior essay on domestic violence and economic dependence. At Wesleyan I worked as a Peer Health Advocate Team Leader, where I continued to develop my passion for engaging young people in preventing and responding to sexual and relationship violence in their communities.
After graduating from Wesleyan, I gained experience working with domestic violence survivors through my position as a Guest Advocate at DOVE Inc.’s shelter before being hired as the Youth Education Specialist at REACH.
What are some of your hobbies?
I love making art, swing dancing, and being active (running, lifting weights, doing yoga). I also enjoy cooking and eating lots of fresh colorful things, reading, and talking about anything related to LGBTQ communities, sexuality, and sexual health.
What are you most excited about in your new job?
I love being in front of a group of young people and getting them engaged and interested in issues that I care about. Because of this, I’m very excited that so much of my new job is going to be leading workshops for teens on healthy relationships and dating violence and working with them to prevent dating violence in their schools and communities.
For more on Dani’s (and REACH’s) work with teens, see here.
