Despite the hardships of the pandemic, HERd held two successful online self-defense classes teaching women in our community how to defend themselves if need be. Multiple one-hour self-defense class sessions led to women gaining knowledge about what to do when approached to use some self-defense move. We were also able to raise awareness of self-defense through our social media platforms. At school assemblies, HERd would discuss self-defense classes and women empowerment while still educating everyone on women's history. Girls gathered together and shared why self-defense was essential to them on social media. In addition to hosting online self-defense classes, we donated over 200 self-defense keychains to three homeless shelters in the Los Angeles community. Altogether, with the self-defense classes, keychains, and women's history month project, we reached 600 engaged members in our community while serving together with three community partners.

As we all experienced the unexpected, bringing new ideas was a challenge. Throughout the academic year, HERd met up weekly on Fridays to develop innovative solutions for the girls and women of Los Angeles. Every meeting was used wisely with discussions on how we can move forward with helping our school and surrounding community. As obstacles came about with the keychains, we learned how to move forward with an alternative plan while still supporting women in Los Angeles at the same measure. Teaching a self-defense class online was difficult, but the girls came together and created a resource available to all the girls and women in our school community. HERd’s primary focus on self-defense and civic engagement was a great success with many obstacles overcome.