KickStart Self-Defense

Background Statement

KickStart Self-Defense was founded in Fort Collins, Colorado in 2023 to empower students with self-defense training to lessen the incidence and devastating effects of sexual and physical assault. 50% of reported sexual assaults are committed when victims are 18 or younger. 90% of the time, youth will know their attacker. Prevention is key; risk awareness, verbal boundary setting, and projecting confidence can be enough to ward off attack. When that's not enough, KickStart provides students with physical tools to try to escape a dangerous situation safely.

The KickStart team is comprised of instructors with comprehensive experience teaching martial arts as well as self defense, disarmament and de-escalation. Instructors possess a diverse background including taekwondo, jiu jitsu, judo, muay thai, grappling and wrestling. Their expertise is shared with a team of instructors with a heart for protecting our youth.

Our curriculum has developed to include steps we can take before an attack begins to hopefully avoid a physical altercation. These steps include: situational awareness, projecting confidence, verbal boundary setting, trusting our gut and leaving situations that feel dangerous and escaping to safety as quickly as we can.

Our financial structure is very cost-effective. Our instructors and assistants are paid as contract workers per training session. We can provide a 1.5 self-defense training for 20-30 individuals for $210, including facility fees.

KickStart has multiple funding sources, including paid self-defense trainings, grants, donations and fundraising events. When our tax exempt status was awarded in September of 2023, we began pursuing grants in earnest. Last year, KickStart was the recipient of three Give Next grants totaling $4400. KickStart is eager to expand partnerships within our community to maximize our impact.

KickStart sees the pathway to building a safer CO youth as a collaborative effort. Our trainings to high school students will include interested teams, clubs and off-site PE classes. KickStart also recognizes the unique opportunity we have to positively affect the safety of local CSU students. College students are at particularly high risk for sexual assault. We hope to partner with CSU to reach students as part of their orientation activities, as a dorm bonding activity, sorority trainings or in other settings.

KickStart Self-Defense is grateful for the guidance of its Board of Directors. With diverse backgrounds in non-profit and business realms, our directors exemplify a proven, financially sound and creative approach to the challenges a young NPO faces.

KickStart is growing quickly, partnering with two local high schools to provide 20 free trainings from August to October. We've served 206 students with two free trainings, and 57 students with one free training. We seek to expand our school partnerships in 2026 to include all high schools in Northern Colorado. Your generous heart can help to build a safer future for our youth. We are inspired by the words of Angela Davis:

"I am no longer accepting what I cannot change. I am changing what I can no longer accept."

We welcome your caring partnership to help create a safer future for Colorado youth.