50 Years of Impact, 10 Years of SafeBAE: The Legacy of Shael Norris

Celebrating 50 Years of Impact: Honoring Shael Norris

Today, we celebrate a milestone that means more than just a birthday. SafeBAE’s Executive Director, Shael Norris, turns 50, and with it, we honor the decades of work she has dedicated to fighting for a world where young people are empowered to prevent sexual violence before it happens.

For nearly three decades, Shael has been at the forefront of anti-violence activism, ensuring that the next generation has the tools and education to create safer communities. But what makes Shael’s leadership so extraordinary isn’t just the work she does—it’s how she does it. She doesn’t just teach; she listens. She doesn’t just advocate; she amplifies the voices of young people, making sure that they are the ones shaping the future of prevention.

Ten years ago, Shael co-founded SafeBAE alongside Daisy Coleman, Ella Fairon, Jada Smith, and Charlie Coleman. She was the only adult among the group, but from the start, she knew that this movement needed to be youth-led. Instead of leading from the front, she created space for young people to build something revolutionary—a peer-led sexual violence prevention organization that put power directly into students’ hands.

Her impact can’t be measured by numbers alone. It’s in the survivors who finally feel heard, the student activists who find their voice, and the countless lives changed by the programs she helped build from the ground up.

Today, as we celebrate 50 years of Shael Norris, we also celebrate the 10-year journey of SafeBAE—a movement that would not exist without her vision, determination, and unwavering belief in the power of youth-led change.

The Moment That Sparked SafeBAE

For years, Shael Norris fought to prevent sexual violence on a global scale.

As a founding staff member of V-Day, the organization that grew out of The Vagina Monologues, she worked to mobilize activists, amplify survivor voices, and push for systemic change worldwide. She had seen the power of storytelling to transform the way people thought about sexual violence. She had helped shape movements that made real, tangible change.

But something still wasn’t right.

At the time, sexual violence prevention efforts were primarily focused on college campuses. And while awareness was growing, Shael could see the same devastating pattern playing out over and over again—students arriving at college without ever having learned about consent, boundaries, or how to protect themselves and others. By the time they were introduced to prevention programs, harm had already been done.

She kept asking herself:

Why are we waiting until college to have these conversations?

Then, at 40 years old, Shael looked at her own daughter, who was just about to enter middle school—and everything became crystal clear.

“I had been doing anti-violence work on a global level,” Shael recalls, “but it was playing out most broadly on college campuses. It became clear to me that in order to be effective, the work needed to move down to younger ages. It was too late—not too late, but really late in the game—to help kids unlearn what they had already absorbed in middle and high school versus just teaching them properly in the first place.”

Shael knew that if real change was going to happen, it had to start earlier—in middle and high schools.

But she also knew something else.

This work couldn’t be led by adults alone.

“I was really acutely aware that if we were going to do work in middle schools and high schools, that I could not be the face of that work,” she says. “I had to not be leading it, not be the out-in-front visual. If young people were going to absorb these lessons, they had to hear them from each other.”

Around the same time, Shael was working in the entertainment industry, using her experience in activism to help produce work that could reach and inspire new audiences. That’s when she met the filmmakers of Audrie & Daisy, a documentary that followed the real-life experiences of teen survivors Daisy Coleman, Charlie Coleman, Ella Fairon, and Jada Smith.

These weren’t statistics. These were real young people who had been through what Shael had spent her entire career fighting against.

And instead of trying to build something for them, she did something radical:

She built it with them.

“I was so lucky to connect with Daisy, Ella, Charlie, and Jada,” Shael remembers. “I reached out to them through the filmmakers, hoping they might want to be part of something bigger. They didn’t just say yes—they trusted me to be a partner in this work. And that speaks volumes. It’s a lot to ask young people to trust an adult to not overshadow them, not to overcast their ideas, not to take away their power. But they did.”

Together, Shael, Daisy, Charlie, Ella, and Jada co-founded SafeBAE—the first peer-led sexual violence prevention organization in the country.

Shael didn’t step into the spotlight. She didn’t lead from the front. She stood beside them. She lifted them up. She made sure that the people who should be leading this movement—the young survivors themselves—had the tools, the platform, and the power to build something that would outlive them all.

And because of that decision, SafeBAE didn’t just become an organization.

It became a movement.

A movement that wouldn’t have existed without the moment Shael realized that prevention had to start sooner, that education had to come from peers, and that real change had to be youth-led.

And now, nearly a decade later, that movement has reached thousands of students, trained hundreds of young activists, and reshaped the conversation about sexual violence prevention in schools across the country.

Revolutionizing Prevention: How Shael Gave Power to Young People

When Shael co-founded SafeBAE, she wasn’t just creating another sexual violence prevention organization. She was redefining the way prevention happens altogether.

For decades, education about consent and healthy relationships had been controlled by adults—teachers, school administrators, policymakers. But Shael knew something that most prevention programs didn’t:

Young people don’t just need to be taught. They need to lead.

“There was 0% of the population interested in introducing consent education into secondary schools,” Shael recalls. “We knew we had to get this information directly into the hands of students, without the gatekeeping of adults.”

At a time when no one was talking about consent in middle and high schools, SafeBAE was pioneering a radical new approach—one where students weren’t just participants in the movement; they were the architects of it.

SafeBAE didn’t ask for permission. It put educational resources, training materials, and activism tools directly into students’ hands, allowing them to:
– Teach their peers about consent, healthy relationships, and bystander intervention
– Start SafeBAE chapters in their schools and create real cultural change
– Advocate for policy changes in their communities that protect survivors and prevent violence

And most importantly—it was free.

“We knew that if students had to pay for resources, it would just become another tool that adults could use to block access to prevention education,” Shael says. “So we made the decision from the beginning—this work belongs to young people, and it should always be accessible to them.”

This decision wasn’t just about making education available. It was about shifting power. It was about recognizing that students don’t need adults to tell them what’s wrong—they need the tools to demand something better.

And it worked.

Since its founding, SafeBAE has trained thousands of student activists, created free, accessible educational resources, and built a nationwide network of peer educators who are leading the charge for prevention in their own schools and communities.

“When I step back and look at the inroads we’ve made into this work,” Shael says, “I think the thing I’m most proud of is that we are still engaging young people. My original co-founders have grown up, but SafeBAE is still relevant to today’s students. And that tells me that we built something real—something that will last.”

It’s proof that prevention can’t just be taught from the top down—it has to be built from the inside out.

The Evolution of SafeBAE: Expanding the Movement Beyond Students

When SafeBAE first launched, its mission was clear: get consent education directly into the hands of young people. It was about bypassing adult gatekeepers and ensuring that students had the knowledge, tools, and support they needed to create safer school environments.

But as the movement grew, Shael saw another problem.

Students were getting educated. They were learning how to recognize harm, advocate for themselves, and support their peers. But when they reported harm to adults—parents, teachers, administrators—too often, they were met with silence, dismissal, or outright disbelief.

“If we were putting this information in the hands of young people, but not also educating the adults around them,” Shael explains, “we were setting those young people up for secondary trauma.”

It wasn’t enough for students to know about consent. The adults in their lives had to know, too.

That realization led SafeBAE to expand its mission—from a student-led movement to a comprehensive prevention initiative that now provides resources and training for:
– Parents – So they can have open, informed conversations with their kids about boundaries and respect
– Teachers & Coaches – So they understand how to recognize red flags and support students who come forward
– School Administrators & Title IX Coordinators – So they know how to properly handle cases of harassment and assault in school settings

SafeBAE wasn’t just empowering students anymore—it was transforming entire school cultures.

“The reality is that most adults today never received consent education themselves,” Shael says. “So it’s not their fault if they don’t always respond the right way. But if we want real change, we have to give them the tools to do better.”

Because of Shael’s leadership, SafeBAE evolved from a youth-led movement into an organization that is reshaping the way schools, families, and entire communities understand prevention.

And as SafeBAE approaches its 10th anniversary, one thing is clear: this movement isn’t slowing down. It’s growing.

Shael’s Legacy: The Lives She’s Changed

The true impact of Shael Norris’ work isn’t just in the programs she’s built or the policies she’s influenced—it’s in the people.

It’s in the students who first joined SafeBAE as high school activists and are now fighting for change on college campuses. It’s in the survivors who have found their voices because of the education and support SafeBAE provides. It’s in the young people who never became victims at all—because they were taught about consent before harm could happen.

For Shael, there’s no greater reward than seeing these ripple effects play out in real time.

One student leader in Rhode Island had always dreamed of going into nursing—but after working with SafeBAE, she decided to become a forensic nurse examiner so she could specialize in caring for sexual assault survivors.

“She knew she was going into nursing,” Shael recalls, “but after working with SafeBAE, she knew she wanted to be a sexual assault nurse examiner. And that’s incredibly moving to me. What an impact she will have. If we can inspire even one young person to go into trauma-informed care, that alone is worth everything.”

But for every success story like this, Shael is also painfully aware of the stakes.

She doesn’t do this work because it’s rewarding—she does it because it’s urgent. Because for every student who finds a voice, there’s another who is being silenced. For every school that embraces SafeBAE’s message, there’s another where students are still being dismissed, retraumatized, or ignored.

“I wake up every day like the roof is on fire,” Shael says. “Because it is. Because if we aren’t doing this work, then we are putting lives at risk.”

That urgency is what keeps her going. It’s what has driven SafeBAE for nearly a decade. And it’s what ensures that her legacy will last far beyond her time at SafeBAE.

Because this generation—the one Shael has been fighting for—is just getting started.

Honoring Shael’s Legacy: How You Can Help Keep This Work Alive

Today, as we celebrate 50 years of Shael Norris, we also celebrate the 10-year journey of SafeBAE—a movement that would not exist without her vision, determination, and unwavering belief in the power of youth-led change.

And what better way to honor Shael’s legacy than by ensuring this work continues for the next generation?

SafeBAE was built on the radical belief that prevention education should belong to young people. But that education can’t exist without supporters like you.

• Donate in honor of Shael’s 50th birthday – Every dollar supports peer-led education, survivor resources, and school-wide policy change. Give now.
• Bring SafeBAE to your school or community – Prevention starts with education. Learn how to get involved here.
• Join the movement – Whether you’re a student, educator, or ally, SafeBAE has a place for you. Sign up for our programs or volunteer your time.

Shael’s impact can be seen in every student SafeBAE has trained, every survivor we’ve supported, and every cultural shift we’ve helped create.

Let’s make sure that impact keeps growing.

Join us in celebrating Shael by investing in the future of SafeBAE today.

Donate now and help us continue the life-saving work she started.