It can be tough doing it all, and doing it all Jody Sanborn has—student, athlete, researcher, mother and more, all part of the reason she was named to the Wyoming Women to Watch list. Now, her goal as a prevention specialist for the Wyoming Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault is to stop violence before it starts and to create cultures where perpetrators are held more accountable and victims are given due process and privacy.
Originally from Glendo, Wyo., Sanborn came to UW as a pole vaulter, earning her bachelor’s degree in psychology followed by a master’s degree in post-secondary education. “UW gave me a lot of opportunities that really allowed me to go with my passion,” she says. “Being a part of the McNair Scholars Program allowed me to dive into some research of my own that focused on trauma.”
In 2009, Sanborn was hired by the coalition and works from a satellite office in Buffalo, Wyo. “I wanted to be an agent for change, and that’s how I got into doing the prevention work,” she says. “To stay in this field, you have to want to make the world a better place.
“We work with all the local domestic violence and sexual assault programs in Wyoming,” Sanborn explains. “We also work on the state level to influence policy, so I facilitate the Wyoming Sexual Violence Prevention Council. With that council, we’re really trying to build a statewide infrastructure that supports the work we’re doing on the ground.”
While Sanborn knows she won’t see an end to violence in her lifetime, she’s making progress toward that goal. “We know it’s not going to happen overnight, but our goal is to educate communities, to give people the knowledge and skill set so that they can go on and continue to do this work, and it will build in future years.”
IMPACT: Making inroads to end the cycle of violence.
