Everyone can be safer
Our mission
IMPACT builds safety from the inside out. We teach people of all ages and abilities the critical emotional and physical skills necessary to prevent violence, make safe choices, and live with greater confidence. IMPACT believes: everyone can be safer.
IMPACT Safety began in Columbus in 1993, led from the start by Julie Harmon. In 2011 it became a program of LifeCare Alliance, and in January 2026 it became an independent 501(c)(3) to sustain and grow the work. Over three decades we have taught thousands of central Ohioans, reaching 1,650 people in a single year at our peak, and we have taught for-credit self-defense at Denison University for more than eighteen years.
Our story
More than physical technique
What is Empowerment Self-Defense?
Empowerment Self-Defense (ESD) is an evidence-based approach to personal and community safety. It addresses the full spectrum of violence, from verbal harassment to physical assault, and it teaches you to interrupt it early.
- Listen to your intuition. Notice the funny feeling and take it seriously.
- Assess the situation. Realistic risk, real options. No lists of rules you must follow.
- Set boundaries and de-escalate. Voice, body language, and words to interrupt a situation early.
- Respond, verbally and physically. Simple, accessible skills practiced until they live in muscle memory.
Assault is never the fault of the person targeted. Accountability lies with the person who commits violence. Every class starts there.
Ashlee Abraham, IMPACT instructor
“You are entitled to your safety. And you are allowed to say No to other people. No matter who they are.”
Julie Harmon, IMPACT executive director emerita
1993
the year IMPACT Safety began teaching self-defense in central Ohio
959
people reached across 48 programs in 2023
18+
years teaching for-credit self-defense at Denison University
88%
of IMPACT:Ability graduates knew a key personal-safety strategy afterward, up from 50% before
Since 1993
Impact at a glance
Matt O'Brien
Director of Instructor Training
Matt O'Brien teaches people how to feel powerful without having to perform confidence. A former martial arts champion who once mistook violence for strength, Matt now helps others reclaim the quiet certainty that comes from genuine self-trust. Since 2009 he has been part of the IMPACT Safety team, teaching trauma-informed, practical tools for physical, emotional and intellectual resiliency. His goal is to help people replace fear with agency, so they can move, speak and live with confidence in a world that often demands smallness.
Our team
Who we are
Venica Miller
Program Manager and Instructor
Venica Miller manages We Are Worth Defending, IMPACT's empowerment self-defense program created by Black women for Black women to address safety concerns and build confidence. She is an empowerment self-defense instructor and has been with the program since it began. Venica is also the retired Deputy Director of Victim Services Initiatives at the Ohio Attorney General's Office, where she served for 18 years, directing Ohio's Victim Services Academy and Two Days in May, the annual statewide conference on victim assistance. She co-chaired the office's African American Employee Network and received awards for her advocacy. She studied at Ohio Dominican University and Columbus State Community College.
Erin Upchurch, MSSA, LISW-S
Incoming Executive Director
Erin Upchurch is a licensed independent social worker with more than two decades of practice. From 2018 to 2025 she led Kaleidoscope Youth Center in Columbus, guiding it through COVID-19, quadrupling its budget, and creating the first housing and behavioral health programs centered on LGBTQIA+ youth and young adults. She has taught in the College of Social Work at The Ohio State University and co-founded the Ohio Rest Collective, which offers workshops on rest and healing. In 2024 YWCA Columbus named her a Woman of Achievement.
Julie Harmon, PhD
Executive Director Emerita
Julie Harmon has led IMPACT Safety since its start in 1993. For more than 30 years she has worked across anti-violence programming, from organizational safety policy to skill-based personal safety curricula, drawing on a background in psychology, chemical dependency, counseling and training. Before IMPACT she co-owned a martial arts school for women and children for 11 years, consulted with the National Institute of Corrections, and worked in public and private mental health. She has trained staff and communities across the United States and in Mexico and Israel. When not teaching or talking, she enjoys digging in the dirt, chocolate chip cookies, ice cream, and time with friends, family and sunshine.
Mary Culver
Instructor
Mary Culver is Associate Manager of Sexual Violence Services at SARNCO, the Sexual Assault Response Network of Central Ohio, where she supports 24/7 hospital advocacy, aftercare and outreach. She has spent her career believing, empowering and advocating for survivors of sexual violence, domestic violence, stalking and human trafficking, including more than 10 years as a legal advocate for the City Prosecutor's Office. She is a certified community health worker.
Mentored, trained and certified
Our instructors
Sharonda Crome
Instructor
Sharonda Crome has taught empowerment self-defense for more than 10 years. She takes a trauma-informed approach, creating a safe and supportive space for people who have lived through hard things, and she uses body-based practices that help participants release tension and connect with their own strength.
Ashlee Abraham
Instructor
Stephanie Sparrow Hughes
Instructor
Stephanie Sparrow Hughes teaches with We Are Worth Defending, the program created in 2022 by Black women for Black women. She is Corporate and Community Engagement Manager at LifeCare Alliance and a fierce advocate for women and girls, and she previously managed the Buckeye Mentoring Hub at MENTOR Ohio. She is certified in Mental Health First Aid.
Molly Shea
Instructor
Erica Russell Averette
Instructor
Erica Russell Averette is a self-defense instructor, personal trainer and group fitness instructor. Having witnessed the abuse of a loved one as a child, she decided early that she would be able to defend herself, and she now builds strength, endurance and confidence in others so they are prepared for tough situations.
Charelle Peoples
Instructor
Bio coming soon.
Jenice Tate
Instructor
Jenice Tate is an Associate Manager at OhioHealth SARNCO, the Sexual Assault Response Network of Central Ohio. In 2010 she co-founded Project V.O.I.C.E., which raises awareness of sexual violence, human trafficking and teen dating violence, and she has led empowerment workshops with high-risk youth. She is a graduate of The Ohio State University.
Tecca Thompson
Instructor
Bio coming soon.