About Us

Uplift is a nonprofit organization dedicated to combating sexual violence in fandom communities through education and advocacy. Through our years of experience in this unique line of work, we have developed a toolkit to empower convention organizers and leaders to shape their conventions into safer spaces for all attendees.

Training

Uplift trainers provide training customized for your audience and event on creating safe events through bystander intervention, supporting survivors, and strong policies.

Supporting Survivors in a Convention Environment

Designed for staff & volunteers working a convention

Attendees will walk away understanding:
• Bystander intervention techniques to common convention scenarios
• Strategies for taking reports without re-traumatizing survivors
• Local and online resources they can share with attendees

Creating Safe Spaces

Designed for community leaders

Attendees will walk away understanding:
• Three key section in every code of conduct
• How to personalize a code of conduct to their community
• How to enforce a code of conduct




Consent and Power Dynamics

Designed for community leaders

Attendees will walk away understanding:
• Power dynamics that exist in their community
• The intersection between consent and power dynamics
• Practical bystander intervention techniques to apply to community-specific situations




Designed For You

Each training includes a pre-training and post-training call to tailor the material to your needs and answer additional questions.

Fits your schedule

Each training is designed for 60 minutes including Q&A. Want more or less, just ask!

In Person or Virtual

We are happy to conduct the trainings onsite at your convention or through the virtual meeting site of your choice.

Actionable

A resource sheet of key takeaways customized for you.


Convention Safety Survey

Uplift will create a custom safety survey for your event through our survey tool: Elephant at the Con. After the convention, we will analyze the results and create a report for your staff of qualitative and quantitative data.

elephant at the con logo

Policy Consultation

An Uplift representative can review your code of conduct, volunteer policy, or incident response plan. We will provide specific suggestions for improvement so it is clear, promotes safety, and is specific to your organization and event.

We can advise you as you create easily understandable and comprehensive policies, as well as concrete strategies for sharing these important policies with your attendees. Unsure who a survivor should talk to immediately following an incident, or how to respond empathetically and fairly? We're here to help!

Our Clients Say...

“ I highly recommend Uplift for any convention or event. They specialize in con and fandom-leaning events. Their staff are top-notch and really know their stuff”

Staff Member at Anime Milwaukee after participating in our Convention Staff Training

“ [Uplift] did a great job crafting our code of conduct! ”

Founder of Tech Ladies, a community that connects women with the best opportunities in tech

“Dynamic and engaging presentation! Grace was very knowledgeable & brought the right amount of levity to the topic. Great suggestions for how to understand, connect with, and empower [people] to protect themselves.”

Attendee feedbackfrom our presentation: How to Help Youth Struggling with Sexual Violence in Online Communities.

“ Our staffers were starving for training and the folks at Uplift were indispensable to them. Uplift gave the MAGFest community space to explore how to confront challenging topics freely; their survey illuminated the important steps we need to take to make our event safer for everyone. ”

MAGFest Volunteer Manager

“This year I felt much more prepared to deal with the reports that I received, and felt more confident in the way I responded. The staff training helped me be more confident that I could interact with victims of harassment in an empathetic and understanding way. [Uplift’s] training gave concrete examples and phrasing that I found extremely useful.”

Caitlin Antel, Tekko Harassment Reporting OfficerAfter participating in our Convention Staff Training

“ Jennifer was exactly what our convention needed! She cut straight to the core of our values — and our vulnerabilities — to address issues relevant to our organization. Her specific examples of our power dynamics really helped us, and the depth of her preparedness fired up our engagement. We knew that she cared about our issues, and wanted to help.”

Attendee feedback from our presention: Consent and Power Dynamics

Request A Quote