On May 15th 2025, the Coalition Ending Gender Based Violence (CEGV) hosted it’s 19th annual fundraiser and community event, Celebration for Change at the historic Mount Baker Community Clubhouse!
Over 130 people braved Seattle’s drizzly weather and traffic to connect with each other, learn about the Coalition, and support the work. At the end of the night, over $38k was raised towards the Coalition’s mission of ending gender-based violence and promoting equitable relationships!
In addition to nourishing food provided by Food for Good, a festive DIY rainbow photobooth, and a heartfelt and hilarious performance from local comedian Juno Men, attendees heard about the importance of the Coalitions work from the Co-Executive Directors and leaders from local gender-based violence programs.
The guest speakers highlighted core values in the effort to end gender-based violence, such as self-determination, equity, safety, and collective action as well as shared tangible benefits of being part of the Coalition they see in their day-to-day work with survivors.
Co-Executive Directors of the Coalition, Lea Aromin and Amarinthia Torres, spoke about accomplishments over the past year and about the importance of staying rooted in our values during a time of increased abuses of power at the highest levels of our government.
Lea highlighted the impact of the Coalition team, stating that “we hosted and co-hosted multiple events throughout the year because we know that we need to be connected and build relationships across systems and disciplines…We also hosted over 40 different trainings and workshops for our membership and community organizations so that they are equipped not only to support survivors but have the resources to sustain themselves in this work…Overall, we trained over 1500 individuals in 2024 and remember, we are a staff of 7, ya’ll!”
Amarinthia shared guiding principles for the Coalition for the year ahead stating that, “…gender-based violence comes down to abuses of power and gender roles that reinforce existing power imbalances. Now is not the time to abandon our hard-earned feminist analysis of power and gender, especially when it has been so generously shared with us by survivors most on the margins. Black feminists, bisexual and lesbian survivors, queer and trans survivors & advocates, our immigrant and refugee communities—all have informed our understanding of how abusive power shows up, and not just interpersonally but also in our systems and institutions. This is the lens by which we do our collective work and it informs how we build our own power with our membership.”
All in all, the evening was festive and raucous with laughter, while at the same time, heartfelt and inspired about the work ahead. The evening wrapped up with these words from the Co-Executive Directors of the Coalition:
“We can’t do this work alone nor should we. It is going to take all of us, working together, in ever widening coalitions. You being here tonight is such an important part of that story. So, thank you for showing up, coming together, and being part of the Coalition Ending Gender-Based Violence!”