Board of Directors

Carmel Drewes (she) and Amy Jones (she & they) met in 2001 when they both trained with Suzanne Pinette at Sun Dragon Martial Arts & Self Defense in Austin, Texas.  They have been training in karate, teaching ESD, and have been active as members of the NWMAF since that time.  Carmel served on the ST Planning Committee in 2002, and Amy was Member of the Year in 2005.  More recently, Amy was co-organizer for PeaceWorks in 2014, and both have served in board positions. Carmel served as NWMAF Membership Director from 2016—2019. Amy served as NWMAF Self Defense Coordinator from 2016—2018 and continued service in the non-board position of Self Defense Instructor Certification Coordinator from 2018—2022. They are both NWMAF Certified Self Defense Instructors. 

Amy is currently a Yondan (4th degree black belt) in Jin Sei Ryu Karate and co-owner & co-head instructor of Culture of Safety Dojo & Wellness Center in Chicago, IL. Carmel is a Sandan (3rd degree black belt) in Seido Karate and the owner & lead instructor of Boston Area Seido Karate in Stoughton, MA. They are both licensed social workers. Carmel also works as a trauma therapist and teaches English to adult immigrant learners. Amy also teaches comprehensive sex ed using the Our Whole Lives (OWL) curriculum, and is working on incorporating restorative/transformative justice practices into Culture of Safety.

• Coming soon!

Coming soon!

Coming soon!

• Home Town: Portland, Maine USA
• Pronouns: She/Her

Clara is the founder of Prevention. Action. Change. a violence prevention, intervention, response, and healing program based in Portland, Maine which works to counter harassment, assault, and abuse through awareness, verbal and physical skills, and the promotion of healing and growth. Clara has been a certified Empowerment Self Defense instructor with NWMAF since 2001 and has advanced training in Trauma First Aide.

Through Prevention. Action. Change., Clara trains and mentors ESD teachers and focuses on bringing ESD, Active Bystander Intervention, De-escalation, Sexual Harassment prevention and response, and Workplace Safety training to the communities most targeted for violence. Her primary focus personally is on ESD as a tool for trauma healing using a unique program called Healing Through Empowerment.

In 2020, Clara resumed her study of GoJu Karate with Brooklyn GoJU, formerly Brooklyn Women’s Martial Arts, after a 20 year hiatus thanks to online classes.

When not teaching, Clara can be found working on community activism or walking in the woods or on the beach with her dog enjoying the incredible landscape of Maine.

Coty is the Violence Prevention Program Coordinator at Sun Dragon Martial Arts and Self Defense, NFP, which is a feminist dojo in south Austin, TX. She took her first self defense class with Carmel Drewes and kept showing up to her workshops for years. Carmel convinced her to attend NWMAF’s Special Training in 2014 and that was another eye-opening experience for her. After watching her kids train in Seido karate for a decade, she began her own training in 2019. She has earned a brown belt in Seido Karate.

Coty had always wanted to find out what yoga was about since she was a child. Finally, in 1998 she walked into her first class and was hooked. Coty’s personal practice and teaching comes from the lineage of T.K.V. Desikachar. She received certification from the International Association of Yoga Therapists in 2019 and has since worked for a mental health hospital in both inpatient and outpatient programs. Coty is interested in how yoga, martial arts and empowerment self defense can work together to heal trauma.

(She/Her) Tamara holds the position of 2nd-degree black belt instructor from Body Mind Studios – a martial arts school that has a multi-style curriculum that includes kong su do (“hard” style), kong fu, bagwa, aikido/hapkido, udo, tai chi, traditional weapons, and Samurai sword. The focus of this school’s unique curriculum is to develop not only physical strength and mind-body connection but also to use training as a means to cultivate empathy and mindfulness in one’s daily life. Tamara has been training for over 20 years and has taught martial arts for over 15 years. She is dedicated to continuing her training and sharing her art with others. Tamara also teaches martial arts and tai chi workshops at the high school where she works as a science teacher.

Coming soon!

Tasha Ina Church is the founder of ElleLiveAction, an Empowerment Company focused on teaching Empowering strategies to emerging women leaders, so they can be their own hero. She is also a course creator, empowerment self-defense instructor, business owner, empowerment coach, author, & international speaker. Church teaches health, wellness, trauma informed workshops & more. She is the only certified instructor on Maui in Empowerment Self-Defense, a 40+ year evidence-based curriculum designed by women for women, taught in 45 countries globally. Tasha’s curriculum provides individuals with the tools they need to navigate life’s scenarios, teaching when to lean in, when to step back, & that they are worth fighting for.

Church teaches throughout Hawaii and globally! She’s published 4 online courses and was #1 on page #1 of the Udemy course platform out of 3224 self-defense courses. With over 20 years of self-defense experience, studying 7 styles of Japanese Martial Arts, Tai Chi, and zen trainings, along with doing Warrior Spirit with Sylvester Stallone’s Trainer, Jeff Alexander, she is one of a kind. Her Empowerment facilitators were Arlene Limas, the 1st Olympic Gold Medalist in Tae Kwon Do & Lizzette Fitzgerald from ASSERT Defense, the only female instructor to currently teach both the military and the police force in the United States.

Tasha is also the co-founder of Ladies First,  building her own curriculum for middle school and high school girls focused on self-esteem, body image, and self-defense training. Working with women and girls of all ages, & demographics, she found that she loved working with those who are passionate about life, love their work & excel.