News Coverage

See page 19 for interview on cover2coverpublications.com.
“So the opportunity to help thousands, if not millions of girls learn their dating rights, the dangers they face at college, how to avoid those dangers, and some quick-learn techniques to get out of bad situations was simply too compelling,” said Jessup.

Did you know that one out of every four girls in middle school today will be date-raped by the time she's 22?  That predators try to abduct about 100,000 teenage girls each year, with the risk peaking at age 15?   As I consider my 16 year old and her friends, these statistics are shocking, unbearable. 
Want to arm your daughter so she's more able to defend herself?  Check out JustYellFire.com and download the free movie hosted by stars of Lost and featuring Portland teen Dallas...

20 year-old Dallas Jessup talks about her organization Just Yell Fire When Dallas Jessup walked into school to teach about her organization, Just Yell Fire, I don’t think anyone was prepared for what this petite Vanderbilt junior had in store for us.
Sitting in the theater on a Monday afternoon with a food induced coma, many of us were expecting just another battle of keeping our eyes open. But surprisingly, Jessup was able to capture our attention pretty quickly, a...

Thanks to 19-year-old Dallas Jessup, today thousands of teenage girls can defend themselves against sexual violence. “I’m trying to save a generation,” she says.
Jessup is founder of Just Yell Fire, a non profit dedicated to educating adolescents on defense against sexual attacks and abduction. She started the organization five years ago, at the age of 13, after her mother showed her the widely viewed footage of Carlie Brucia, the 11-year-old Florida resident abducted and ...

Dallas Jessup teaches young women how to stand up to attackers
DALLAS JESSUP was a 13-year-old Portland, OR high school freshman in 2004 when she first saw the survaillance video on the news of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia being abducted from a Florida car wash. As subsequent reports of the girl’s rape and murder rolled in, Jessup, though still a kid herself, was inspired to act. A black belt in Tae Kwon Do and a student of Filipino street fighting, she realized she possessed a certain set...

Safety depends on having the correct knowledge and the necessary tools in hand; the community offers both to its residents.
I firmly believe that being prepared and determined have just as much to do with achieving success, as does talent or skill. It seems simple, but sometimes just resolving not to give up and making that a permanent mindset can give you the ability to consistently jump each hurdle set before you, regardless of its difficulty.
There have been many times in...

In 2010, San Diego lost a beautiful, intelligent, caring, loving and vibrant teenager named Chelsea King. Her bright future was cut short when a sexual predator stole her life away as she jogged in a popular community park. Chelsea's murder captivated our community's attention and all of us felt the loss of this wonderful child. My son had run that same path as Chelsea took that day many times before, and none of us wanted to believe such evil existed in that beautiful area of our...

Emily Heimann had a simple reason for attending Saturday's "Inspire and Protect" event at Midland University.
"I don't want that to happen to me," the 14-year-old Elkhorn girl said.
"Inspire and Protect," which was presented by Northeast Nebraska Family Health Services in Fremont, was designed to teach young women and their parents about keeping safe from sexual predators and date rape and how to build healthy relationships.
Heimann, who attended the event with her...

At age 19, Dallas Jessup has written a book, made a self-defense movie and traveled the world sharing her message of empowerment.
Yet, some of her heroes are people younger than herself, children who have noticed injustices in the world and acted to do something about them.
Jessup addressed the Young Women LEAD conference at the Muhammad Ali Museum Saturday, where more than 100 girls and women gathered to hear from former Miss America Heather French Henry, District...

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope 2011 is already treating you well - or at least given you some inspiration.
I had a beautiful dose of inspiration when my friend MB (thanks, mama!) sent me an incredible New York Times article from this weekend’s “Education Life” section.
The piece, “Five Do-Gooders,” featured 5 young people (college age or younger) who have found innovative solutions to problems in their communities and beyond.
Take, for example,...