We at CASS are proud to announce that our amazing co-founder and executive director, Chai Shenoy, has won a 2012 Activist Award from the Washington Peace Center!

This Thursday, December 8, Chai will be honored by the Washington Peace Center, along with 8 other local activists, for the work she has done to fight public sexual harassment with Collective Action for Safe Spaces. Her idea in 2009 to collect harassment stories from the DC Metro area in a blog has led to national coverage on sexual assault in DC, collective action and partnerships with local anti-violence groups, trainings at area schools and businesses, and the implementation of WMATA’s first-ever anti-sexual harassment campaign.

We hope you can join Chai, CASS staff and fellow activists and community members at the Washington Peace Center’s 8th Annual Activist Awards Grassroots Gala on December 6th. It will be a great way to pause, reflect, dance, and give high-fives to one another for keeping DC’s grassroots movements going strong in 2012 and beyond.

8th Annual Activist Awards Grassroots Gala

December 6, 2012, 6:30-10pm
St. Stephens Church
1525 Newton Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20010
Price: Tickets start at $15

ABOUT CHAI
Chai Shenoy co-founded Collective Action for Safe Space, originally called HollaBackDC!, in April 2009. On behalf of CASS, she has appeared on ABC7, FOX5, WTOP, The Washington Post, Huffington Post, Mother Jones, and more. Chai has worked in several non-profit organizations, including WEAVE, Break the Cycle, and Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence. In addition to the non-profit world, Chai worked at a political office, as the Domestic Violence Policy Analyst at the Manhattan Borough President’s Office. During her time there, Chai authored Hidden in Plain Sight: Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault in the New York City Subways, a report that studied the prevalence of sexual violence occurring in New York City subways trains and stations. The report garnered international media attention prompting NYC’s Metropolitan Transit Authority to issue public service advertisements encouraging people to report sexual assault or sexual harassment to appropriate parties. Chai, who received her B.A. at UCLA and her J.D. at American University, Washington College of Law, works as an attorney who has represented sexual assault survivors in court and at educational hearings. She is also an adjunct professor at George Washington University’s Women’s Studies program, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on gender-based violence.