Project History

The Chain of Change project began in 2007 when Beyondmedia Education organized youth activists across the Chicagoland area to individually and collectively strategize how to end gender based violence. CoC was a youth response to the Chicago Foundation for Women’s “What Will It Take” campaign, which focused on how to make Illinois the safest state for women & girls.

Giving young people access to Flip video cameras, Beyondmedia challenged youth to raise awareness of violence against woman and girl identified and think about their own roles in this struggle. The young filmmakers created short video, which were uploaded to the Chain of Change website.

Based on youth feedback, after a 2008 CoC Youth Media summit, we inaugurated the CoC Youth Leadership Council to ensure youth authorship over the project. The Leadership Council expanded the project to include all forms of violence focusing on the topic of the roots of violence and strategies for prevention.

In 2010, Beyondmedia re-launched the website to support national and global participation. The website serves as a platform to facilitate discussion around the topics and issues raised in the media and serves to strengthen the bonds between the participants. If you'd like to send us a reaction submission, click here.

Audio and photos by Jason Reblando/McCormick Foundation

Get Involved

Make a Video, Photo or Podcast

Make and share your media about youth and violence on the Chain of Change website.

Add to the Blog

Link to mainstream new stories about youth and violence or share your own stories and experience with violence.

Take our Survey

Fill out our survey about how violence affects you. All information is confidential and no names are needed.

Participate in the Awareness Campaign

Buy a Chain of Change bracelet, write a message and get it added as a piece of public art.

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