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TESTIMONIALS
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"If you're looking to spur positive change, inspire hope, and motivate courage in people's lives then look no further. Nicole Snell, collaborative partner with Difference Makers (10 Strong) and CEO of Girls Fight Back delivered an impact filled presentation on the importance of boundaries, using one's voice, standing up for ourselves and others. She also presented thought provoking information on personal safety, awareness and other facets of human psychology. Her compelling training sparked stirring discussions and helped all of us understand the significance of our emotions, our interactions with others and intuition. She is a true advocate in every sense of the word. Our experience in working with her was professional and flawless from the start, even with the COVID-19 implications. Her adaptability in providing us with such an engaging and compelling virtual training was truly exceptional. We are grateful to have had this opportunity of working with her and highly encourage others to invite Nicole into their community for a truly captivating and passionate experience."
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-Emily Dreiling, U.S. Air Force Sexual Assault Response Coordinator
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“I had the extreme privilege of working with Eric Barreras when he was the USCG District 11 Sexual Assault Response Coordinator and when I was Sector Commander, USCG Sector Los Angeles - Long Beach. Eric was simply exceptional. He has a genuine compassion for people and a highly admirable passion for doing everything in his power to eliminate sexual assault. He provided engaging Sexual Assault Awareness Prevention Month activities including hosting multiple sessions of Bystander Intervention Training, survivor speaker Leeann Tweeden, and various community events (Chalk Walks, Runs, etc.). Each of these activities included different and unique approaches to learning and audience/community engagement. Eric also did a great job of ensuring recognition for unit Victim Advocates who selflessly volunteer their time and talents of often go unnoticed. Eric brought refreshing and much needed changes to the Sexual Assault Prevention, Response and Recovery program and was highly deserving of his selection by DOD as the 2018 Coast Guard SARC of the Year.”
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-CAPT (0-6) Charlene Downey, USGC (Retired)
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“Enjoyed some quality time with the great Eric Barreras and Timothy Jones over the past couple days, including today’s “SART Conference: Sustaining a Movement and not a Moment: MeToo and Beyond” sponsored the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center and the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence in Independence, OH. For many years Eric’s done exceptional work as a Sex Crimes Detective and as an advocate with the U.S. Coast Guard in CA, especially around addressing male victim issues. He recently launched Difference Makers 10 Strong to share their messages throughout the country, and just learned he will be joining the U.S. Center for SafeSport working with youth to professional athletes to end abuse and misconduct in sports throughout the nation.”
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-Christopher Johnston, Freelance Journalist and Author of Shattering Silences
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“Eric Barreras presented his “Cultivating Difference Makers” presentation to a team of 25 military victim advocates and civilian community partners in Santa Barbara county. I can’t thank him enough for his level of expertise and highly interactive training. The feedback from my team was overwhelming. The message reached military and civilians alike and spoke to the big picture of culture change. We often spend time talking about what we want to see, but the hard part comes in acting on what we have learned and taking the message to the next step that will continue the culture change. Eric uses a unique blend of real-world experience on the criminal investigations side of the house and blends his message with practical applications in advocacy. We are very thankful that he visited our team in Vandenberg Air Force Base to spend time with our community collaboration team. We are lucky to have him as a partner in the state of California.”
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-Emily Dreiling, U.S. Air Force Sexual Assault Response Coordinator
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“Eric Barreras has revolutionized the fight against sexual assault not only for the U.S. Coast Guard (he is the 2018 Military SARC of the Year for the USCG), but also across the entire SHARP/SAPR field. I am immensely proud to call him a colleague, and even prouder to know him as a friend. If you work in law enforcement or sexual assault and harassment prevention and advocacy, and you aren’t following and gleaning from Difference Makers (10 Strong), make sure you change that. They are cutting edge, and are improving the environment in which survivors, advocates, and endless other entities can operate to combat sexual harassment and assault throughout all echelons of government and the private sector. This can only make us better as a whole!”
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-Mike Parker, Special Agent, Defense Intelligence Agency / Retired Supervisory Special Agent/CW4, USACIDC
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“Eric Barreras challenged us in his "Cultivating Difference Makers" presentation to envision the goal of ending sexual violence. After all, we are pretty good at talking the talk. His illustrations of cultural norms and the continuum of harm enlightened us on how seemingly insignificant jokes, sexist comments, and inappropriate behaviors can lead to the worst outcomes. What I love most about the message is that it provided us with tools to work with. He was clearly able to read the audience and create a safe environment for sharing ideas on responding to potentially dangerous situations; situations that might lead to sexual assault if there were no intervention. We role played, identified our barriers, and learned how to safely de-escalate those situations. I now feel able to intervene in a real way should I see something happening - whether on the Garrison or out in town. Thanks to Eric Barreras and his team there are a few more Difference Makers in the Army now!”
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-Tamera Streeter, U.S. Army SHARP Civilian Victim Advocate (CW4/USCG retired)
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“The message that Eric Barreras and Germaine Esquivel presented to our students was extremely powerful. The way the message was communicated was very important; it challenged student's ideas of rape, sexual assault and rape culture. It provided a space for students to reflect; it also introduced a new approach to bystander intervention and speaking up. It introduced the idea of male victimization and the importance of allies.”
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-Erin M. Osanna-Barba, MSW, ASW, Director of the Campus Assault Response and Education (CARE) Center, Saint Mary’s College of California
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“On behalf of the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS) Crime Prevention Council I’d like to take a moment to express our appreciation to Eric Barreras and Ashley Bendiksen from Difference Makers (10 Strong). Eric and Ashley participated as guest speakers in our Annual Seminar at the ASIS Global Security Exchange (GSX) in Las Vegas, Nevada, a conference that hosted over 20,000 attendees. Our panel of experts discussed sexual harassment, hostile work environment and victimization, which are certainly not only very hot topics but also very difficult ones to speak about. Both Eric and Ashley brought a high level of professionalism and experience during this round-table discussion whilst addressing members from Corporate level management and security. Both were very passionate and committed to getting out the message that organizations need to pay close attention to allegations of sexual harassment and they provided a new and fresh look at how victims can be helped not just from a moral point of view, but also how to protect their organization’s reputations. We would recommend Eric and Ashley unreservedly as speakers for your organization for these subjects.”
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-Deyanira J. Murga, ASIS Crime Prevention Council, Chair
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“Difference Makers (10 Strong), including Eric Barreras and Timothy Jones, provides excellent training programs for professionals. I’ve been doing sexual violence for more than a decade and have rarely seen men as accomplished and compelling in this field as Eric and Timothy. Do yourself a favor and invite them to your community now!”
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-Alexander Leslie, Senior Director of Educational Services, Cleveland Rape Crisis Center
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“I had the privilege of attending one of Eric Barreras’ Sexual Assault Prevention training sessions at the U.S. Coast Guard’s Sector San Diego. Eric was a warm and inviting presenter that was able to command a room packed full of people. I particularly enjoyed his exercises used to engage the audience. He presented a difficult topic in such a manner it made it comfortable for us to ask questions and participate in the discussion. I highly recommend Eric to speak to any group on sexual assault prevention."
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-Christy Heiskala, Founder & Executive Director, Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Expert/Speaker, Educate to Eliminate, San Diego, CA
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"Eric Barreras has a knowledge and experience base that is hard to find in a Sexual Assault Subject Matter Expert. He presented before approximately 750 military service members from all military branches at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA. His incredible interactive delivery style kept all in attendance engaged. Several students commented to me how effective the training was for them. Eric’s deep understanding of sexual violence and rape culture affords him the ability to deliver his message so effectively. We hope to have Eric and his team of Difference Makers back on our base."
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-Dawn Holmes, Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Specialist, U.S. Air Force
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