2013-2014 Accomplishments Education

In the years since we developed our first Education programs, you have provided critical insight into how Joyful Heart, with its incredibly unique assets, can contribute to the movement to end violence and abuse. We seek to ignite more conversation, a better understanding and increased activism to end sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse.

This year marked immense growth in our education program portfolio, the program area where so much of this work is happening alongside our transformative programming for survivors and healers and our policy and advocacy work to create systemic change in the criminal justice response to violence.

Our Online Community

Each year, hundreds of thousands of individuals from nearly every country in the world visit our website and social media assets. Through them, they access life-saving information and resources that support resiliency and wellness, encourage increased discussion and awareness of our issues and promote improved policies and access to justice for survivors.

This year, we saw 666,000 visitors to our website, from all 50 states and all over the world, generating nearly 1.75 million pageviews to our content. Our social media community grew to nearly 141,000 strong. We hold these members of our online community deeply close to our hearts because we are so acutely aware of the isolation felt by individuals who are healing from trauma and those who care for them.

To best serve our online community with superior content about our work and issues, enhance the connection built through these platforms and activate our visitors’ passion for advocacy and activism around our issues, Joyful Heart embarked upon an ambitious overhaul of both joyfulheartfoundation.org and ENDTHEBACKLOG.org. In the fall of 2013, both projects were completed and met with acclaim—and appreciation—from stakeholders everywhere.

Joyful Heart’s website now features enhanced content on our issues and programs throughout; a one-click resource to all our print, blog and news updates wrapped up into the brand new Reunion Online; and social media integration throughout—all in a beautiful new design that invokes joy and calm.

With the completion of the overhaul of ENDTHEBACKLOG.org, it has become the premiere resource for public research and information about the rape kit backlog in the United States. It features an interactive map displaying everything we know and do not know about where the backlog exists, an extensive media and resource archive of news and reporting about the backlog from across the country, an integrated blog with updates and commentary about the backlog and more.

In the Spring of 2014, ENDTHEBACKLOG.org had the distinction of being nominated for a Webby Award in the category of Best Activism Website. With over 12,000 entries received from all 50 states and over 60 countries in the Webby Awards, our nomination represents one of the top honors in the digital world.