Co-Founder of Canadian Non-profit Creates Platform for Women's Safety

Co-Founder of Canadian Non-profit Creates Platform for Women's Safety

Vedanshi Vala, Delta Zeta–University of British Columbia, Co-Founder and Executive Director of BOLT Safety Society, and 2022 L’Oréal Women of Worth Award honouree, leads with passion for survivors of social impact causes such as sexual assault, abuse, violence and human trafficking. A caution to readers: This content contains discussion of sexual violence that may be sensitive to some audiences. Our purpose is to inform and bring awareness of social impact issues.

When Vedanshi was in grade 10, she and the other co-founders entered their idea for a wearable personal safety device, into a global competition in hopes of obtaining a $1 million prize to develop a technology-based solution for women’s safety. After being eliminated from the competition, they realized the immense need for this platform and continued with the launch of BOLT Safety Society a few years later.

What is BOLT? It is a youthfounded, federally-registered not-for-profit building safer and equitable communities. The organization endeavors to end violence, harassment and abuse through a variety of community-focused programming, all centralized onto a digital platform. The organization is volunteer-run by a group of advisors, staff, officers, managers and directors.

“We have a database of resources for survivors of sexual violence and their allies,” Vedanshi states about the digital platform, “Part of the platform includes educational articles in an effort to flip victim-blaming narratives and promote survivor-centric mindsets. We work with local social workers, mental health professionals, safety experts, and academics to curate our platform content and frame our approaches.”

What inspired Vedanshi to get involved in social work? Her family values instilled a desire to contribute to the world’s work at a young age. Various community and school leadership opportunities gave her the skills to eventually lead a team of her own.

“I was raised in a family where I was taught that I should use my knowledge, platforms, and privilege to help others. Over time, as I went through the world as a young woman, I learned about the harsh reality that one in three women globally face some form of sexual violence. The older I got, the more stories I heard from people I loved about their own experiences. I wanted to be part of the solution.”

The nature of social impact work is both a blessing and a challenge. Helping other people requires a deep investment of emotional energy. Vedanshi has both words of encouragement and advice for those passionate about pursuing careers in social impact.

"Social impact is extremely rewarding as a career; we need more people in social impact. However, you can’t help others if you are not okay. Selfcare and love is one of the best ways to spread love in the world. When working in social impact, you have to be extremely vigilant about your own mental health, and the wellbeing of your team. Recently, when I returned home from leading a humanitarian mission to Kenya for BOLT Safety Society, I was in the car as our driver rescued two girls who’d been kidnapped, robbed, raped, and left on the side of the road. Seeing the atrocity of these crimes firsthand leaves its mark. It’s not easy to talk about the worst things happening in the world, from sexual assaults, to domestic abuse, to female genital mutilation, to child marriages, to human trafficking. Reaching out for help from your support system is essential.”

A major priority for BOLT to continue their impact work in Canada, extending impact communities globally, conducting research and maintaining free digital resources, is to generate more funding. Their work has already extended to the U.S., Kenya, India, Turkey and Morocco. BOLT is working on a multi-country, multi-continental project that will provide a comprehensive understanding of the status of violence, to which the findings will be shared in a documentary. BOLT has been able to reach several impactful milestones, including executing 22 Safe Hubs across 8 cities, over 5,400 hours volunteered since incorporation, over 23,000 people impacted globally, 90,000 impressions across platforms. With additional public support, BOLT hopes to continue to impact more lives through their ongoing fundraising platform, accessible online at ko-fi. com/boltsafety.

Vedanshi continues to collaborate with others to further the causes she is passionate about. Recently, Vedanshi represented BOLT Safety Society as a delegate through Equal Chance, at the Commission on the Status of Women’s 67th session at United Nations Headquarters in New York. What was it like speaking at seven high-level conference events?

“The experience was quite cool, and I learned a lot from everyone else at the conference, and left with many good friends around the world. I’m excited to see how this network can be tapped into for global partnerships in the time to come.”

Of course, Vedanshi’s partnership through the L’Oreal Women of Worth Award gave her a higher platform and more resources to further her cause for women’s safety solutions. She was the youngest in her cohort, and the only honouree representing the Indian and Rajput communities, especially proud to wear her mother’s traditional jewelry for her honouree speech.

“When the award came around, it certainly made me pause for a second and realize how far we’d come since we got started in high school. I think this award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of my team, our mentors, and our supportive community. I’ve learned that we are stronger together, and being part of the Women of Worth family has connected me to a global network of strong women leading change in their communities.”

As for what is upcoming for Vedanshi, her socially conscious jewelry brand, MAZE, is building things, soon to come. Next year she will return to India to lead a BOLT Safety humanitarian mission to gain a deeper understanding of the local issues around sexual violence and domestic abuse, and how we can work with partners on-ground for future interventions.

"While we were in India in the summer of 2022, I’d co-presented a workshop to women and girls from rural communities, and one of my co-facilitators was a medical doctor. One of the participants came up to her after the workshop and asked to take a picture together, saying that this was the first time she’d stood next to a female doctor. It’s these small things that make a difference, and if you are truly passionate about it, social impact is extremely rewarding as a career.”

BOLT Safety will continue to partner with other non-profits, while looking to grow in capacity. The end goal is to be a central hub for the sexual violence prevention and response space. If you’d like to contribute to BOLT Safety Society’s cause, online donations can be made at ko-fi.com/ boltsafety.