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Since the inception of Not Alone @ the Beach in 2015, we have employed cutting-edge bystander education programs as central components of our primary prevention effort at MD��ý���.  Our prevention work was greatly aided by the serendipitous presence in Long Beach of Drs. Jackson Katz and Marc Rich, two national leaders in gender/power-based violence prevention education, with special focus on engaging and mobilizing men and boys on these issues. Katz is the creator of the Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) program, one of the longest-running and most widely influential gender violence prevention education initiatives in the world (see & ).  Dr. Marc Rich is Professor of Communication Studies and the creator and director of interACT, a nationally-recognized social justice performance troupe based out of MD��ý��� ().

Together, MVP and interACT offer a comprehensive model of prevention that a) provides intensive leadership training for student leaders in key campus constituencies and b) disseminates key elements of the theory and practice of bystander education to all members of a student peer group, student organization, or members of the broader campus community.  The rationale is that social change within peer cultures—and, by extension, the larger campus community—depends on a collective understanding of the problem, shared language with which to address each other, and opportunities to practice these behaviors with one’s peers where gender/power-based violence is more likely to be witnessed, but barriers to action are greater. MVP and interACT diverge explicitly from other sexual assault prevention programs that attempt to do “big room” performances that are non-interactive, not leadership-focused, and often conducted in more anonymous, formal settings in which peer engagement and group norms are not addressed explicitly.

Although we offer (and highly recommend) these programs together, each can be offered on its own at different times in the year. Some MVP learning modules can be tailored to your specific student/staff/faculty community.  Click on the tabs below for additional information about each of the programs, or to inquire about a possible training.

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Sexual violence, sexual harassment, relationship abuse and other forms of gender/power-based violence are widespread problems that affect countless students on U.S. college campuses.  At Not Alone @ the Beach, we advocate the MVP model:  if we are to change the culture that facilitates violence, then every MD��ý��� member—students, faculty and staff—must get involved in changing the social, cultural and institutional norms that support abusive behavior.  Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) trainings include a focus on the role of bystanders.  Known as the “bystander approach,” the central idea behind this paradigm-shifting strategy is that everyone in a given peer culture has a role to play in supporting victims, confronting abusers, and helping to create a climate in which abusive behavior of any type will not be tolerated.  Experienced MVP trainers lead highly interactive sessions and discussions that encourage men, women and other participants to interrupt their peers’ abusive behaviors, to talk and ask questions about the dynamics of their relationships with their peers, and explore the ethical implications of various courses of action. Unlike other bystander programs, MVP pedagogy encourages discussion of gender, sexual, racial/ethnic norms and other factors that in many cases impact both abusive behavior and the likelihood of effective interventions. MVP’s short-term goal is to prevent assaults. But the long-term goal of MVP is to change the underlying belief systems and social norms that tolerate or encourage misogynous and abusive behaviors.  The MVP model has been proven effective with middle and high school students (Katz, Heisterkamp & Fleming, 2011), college student leadership groups (Eriksen, 2021), among college student athletes (O’Brien, 2001), and in military settings (Hollingsworth, Ramey, & Hadley, 2011).

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At NATB, we partner with the MD��ý��� Leadership Academy to provide MVP Strategies leadership trainings for student leaders.  These one-day, intensive leadership trainings are designed to provide student leaders with an immersive experience in MVP philosophy and methods.  Our aim is to enhance the leadership capabilities of influential peers—in student government, student organizations, Greek life, residential life, athletics and others—by helping them to see themselves as leaders in the critical area of gender/power-based violence prevention.  MVP Strategies trainings help student leaders to develop greater awareness and understanding of sexual assault and relationship abuse issues, prepare them to act in response to a variety of bystander situations, and build their leadership capacity to proactively catalyze social norms change with their respective peer subcultures.  Since 2015, over 1,000 MD��ý��� students have completed MVP leadership trainings.  MVP leadership trainings have also been provided to MD��ý��� athletic coaches and athletic administrators, and to university administrators.

Currently, the MD��ý��� Leadership Academy offers one-day MVP leadership trainings at least once or twice each semester.  We also partner with campus organizations and agencies to offer MVP leadership trainings to your particular constituency, and can tailor components of the MVP trainings to address the specific dynamics in your peer and/or work culture.

Goals of MVP Leadership Trainings

• Goal 1:  Increase awareness about some of the unique dynamics and underlying issues involved in the ongoing social problem of men’s violence against women, and other forms of power-based, interpersonal abuse.
• Goal 2:  Encourage participants to think critically and empathically about these issues.
• Goal 3:  Empower participants to develop concrete options for intervention in a variety of situations/scenarios.
• Goal 4:  Help participants become proactive leaders around these issues, on and off-campus.

interACT is a nationally recognized sexual assault prevention program that uses dramatic techniques to engage audience members in “rehearsing” effective bystander interventions. interACT invites audience members onto the stage to actively try out their ideas about what they would do in a given scenario, make alterations in these strategies with feedback from the cast and audience members, and to practice these behaviors in a safe, supportive environment. The performance theory behind this effort is that empowerment to act is more likely to occur when there is an emphasis on social action (of “doing” and actual practice) rather than on passive knowledge acquisition. InterACT performances are grounded in the broad research literature on sexual assault and relationship abuse, as well as social justice models of engaging men, women, and others across intersectional social positions and lived experiences.  Research finds interACT to be highly effective with university student populations (Ahrens, Rich & Ullman, 2011).

Under the auspices of NATB, Dr. Rich also created an innovative faculty ally training—the first in the nation–that deployed bystander intervention and social justice pedagogy to engage faculty on issues related to sexual/gender violence.  This scenario-based, hands-on training was designed to help faculty and staff better understand predatory violence and to learn collaboratively how to provide students (and each other) with appropriate support.  Trainings also offered faculty a better understanding of campus and off-campus resources and which agencies to contact for specific situations.

For general information about interACT, please contact managing director Kelly Janke at kelly.janke@csulb.edu.  For coordination of a campus event with Not Alone @ the Beach, contact Dr. Shelley Eriksen at shelley.eriksen@csulb.edu.

Please visit to learn more.

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NATB interactive workshops are intended to promote discussions about a range of sexual and relational health issues.

Not Alone @ the Beach has developed “Every Kiss Begins with Consent,” 60-minute interactive workshop where we discuss consent within various romantic partnerships. Students will learn different strategies on how to give and ask for consent within sexual contexts. This training will discuss the definition of consent, the FIRE components of consent, and assumptions around consent. With real-life scenario practice and open peer discussion, the workshop aims to empower students to make their own sex-cessful decisions.

To book a workshop at your student organization, class or event, please contact the NATB student assistant.

Continue to check this website for new workshop topics.

Check out our interactive !