Our program has only one paid staff member. The remaining 45 staff members are volunteer self-defense instructors. Once a year, the WomenStrength Program trains a new group of volunteer instructors. After the training, the new instructors join the other instructors in providing our free self-defense classes to women and teen girls around the Portland area.

 

New instructor training is fairly intense. It is 98 hours long and is spread out over two months, happening once a year, usually in the early spring. There is a competitive application process to go through the training, including a written application, interview, and criminal background check. No experience with self-defense or martial arts is necessary to become a WomenStrength instructor. We look for a warm and friendly personality, excellent judgment, responsibility, a strong desire to help others, the ability to process emotionally disturbing material, and the willingness to commit to the 98-hour training and a year of teaching after the training is over.

 

Although becoming an instructor is a significant commitment of time and effort, the rewards are tremendous. When you are a WomenStrength instructor, you know that you are helping other people in concrete and meaningful ways that may literally save their lives, you develop your own safety skills to a high level, you make new friends, and you have something wonderful to put on your resume.

 

If you are interested involunteering for the WomenStrength Program, contact the program director by calling e-mailing  womenstrength.pb@portlandpolice.org, or calling 503-823-0260 or and leave your name, phone numbers, and email addreress. We will add you to our list of potential instructors and send you information about the training process. We never share our lists with anyone, and being added to this list in no way obligates you to anything.

 

Thanks for your interest.

 

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." -Anne Frank