Home  About Us
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Shannon McNamara * The Inspiration
Shannon is the angel who inspired Girls Fight Back. Just days shy of
her 22nd birthday, she was murdered by an intruder who broke into her
college apartment in Charleston, IL. She had planned to be a physical
education teacher and track coach after graduating, and she would have
been amazing at both. On the night of her death and under the worst of
circumstances, Shannon chose to fight back
against the stranger in her home. Because she did, she was able to
provide physical evidence that lead police to her killer. It was the
person you would least expect: a 26-year-old male college student who
lived across the street. To this day, we do not know why he killed
her. In February 2003 he was convicted of 1st degree murder and was
later sentenced to the death penalty. Today he sits on Illinois Death
Row awaiting execution. To learn more about this amazing girl and how
she LIVED, please visit Shannon’s memorial website at ShannonMcNamara.com.
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Erin Weed * The Founder
Two weeks after Shannon’s death, Erin realized young women needed more
practical and empowering options to learn about violence prevention and
self-defense. Inspired by the way Shannon fought to protect herself,
she abandoned her career in the fast-paced world of New York City
television production to learn all she could about self-defense and
personal safety. Erin immersed herself in training with the best
violence prevention experts and self-defense trainers in the world. She
wanted to create a program that was practical, not intimidating,
empowering...and even fun. By combining these attributes with the most
effective violence prevention and self-defense strategies in existence,
the Girls Fight Back program was born. Today she is a professional
speaker, author, self-defense instructor and radio personality. She
travels the nation teaching others why THEY are their own best
protectors, and then shows them how to reduce the risk of violence and
fight back if necessary. To read Erin’s full bio and learn more about
her programs, visit her personal website at ErinWeed.com.
ADVISORY BOARD
The McNamara Family
Bob Martin, VP of Gavin de Becker & Associates
Angela Shelton, Filmmaker of "Searching for Angela Shelton"
Mike Domitrz, Founder of The Date Safe Project
Mark Lacis Esq., Attorney at Ireland, Stapleton, Pryor & Pascoe
Carol Middleton, Founder of DC Impact & DC Krav Maga
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Hey Erin, I wanted to drop you a quick e-mail to thank you for coming to our campus. You did an amazing job, and the people I know that were there thoroughly enjoyed your program. People are still talking about it, and many have read your book and said it was AWESOME! Again, thank you so much. You are an amazing woman for spreading this awareness and accomplishing so much in your life thus far. You are truly an inspiration to the women of Alpha Phi and JMU.
— Jessica Dodt, Peer Educator, James Madison University
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