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NWMAF July Newsletter
Chicago recap! Hellos, goodbyes, and more!<!–
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July Newsletter
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Group Photo from Weaving Strength Chicago
July Reflection
So much news, it’s hard to know where to start! The fantasic Chicago Weaving Strength regional training is in the books (see below for photos and re-cap); a New England regional event is under way for October; and at the same time, we’re ushering in a (mostly) new Board this month! Read on for some hellos, some goodbyes training updates and pictures — and all things NWMAF!
Board Updates (Literally!)
In August we’re welcoming the three new board members who were introduced in the June newsletter — Digital Coordinator Vivian V, Secretary Isabelle Lombardo, and Self Defense Coordinator Rachel Piazza — as well as a brand-new Treasurer, Ellen Krause-Grosman! In an exciting development, our former Treasurer volunteered to change roles in order to step into a new leadership role, so please welcome our outgoing Treasurer/incoming NWMAF Chair, Corinne Lagermasini! We are beyond grateful to these folks. It is a wonderful feeling to know NWMAF is in such good hands!
Two positions still especially needed are Marketing Coordinator and Events Coordinator. Please reach out if you might be interested in working with our awesome new board in either of those roles!
At the same time, we’re saying good-bye to several outgoing, hard-working board members: Chair Connie Halporn, Vice-Chair Monica Villanueva, Development Coordinator Diane Wallander, Self-Defense Coordinator Clara Porter, and me — Secretary Tasca Shadix. I speak for all of us when I say that it’s been an honor, and we look forward to supporting NWMAF in other capacities in the future!
Board meetings are held on the 3rd Sunday of each month at 3pm Eastern/2pm Central. Any NWMAF member is welcome and encouraged to attend. Click here for the Zoom registration link for 2026 meetings!
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Meet the Incoming Chair: Corinne Lagermasini
Dear NWMAF Members,
I am excited to be transitioning from NWMAF Board Treasurer to Board Chair on August 1st. Huge thank yous to Connie Halporn for her leadership of NWAMF for the past two years and to departing board members Tasca Shadix, Clara Porter, Diane Wallander, and Monica Villanueva, for your incredible work on behalf of NWMAF.
NWMAF has been a part of my life since the 1990’s when I attended my first Special Training in Maryland as a student of Sensei Carol Middleton’s Tae Kwon Do and Empowerment Self-Defense programs. I have continued teaching ESD in Philadelphia and attending NWMAF trainings. One of the greatest highlights of these events has been the opportunity to meet and befriend so many amazing, generous, and talented people.
Serving as Board Chair is my way of giving back to an organization that has given me so much. Highest among my priorities is to help ensure NWMAF’s ongoing sustainability. As an organization with roots going back 50 years, NWMAF has made a lasting impact through our commitment to building personal and collective strength, safety, and well-being through martial arts, self-defense, and healing arts. I believe NWMAF is at an important and exciting juncture and that now is the time to take steps to ensure our impact continues.
As Board Chair, I am looking forward to partnering with the Board, our membership, and our sister organizations to engage in a thoughtful and intentional process to chart a course for NWMAF’s future. With a clear strategic direction, a strong organizational structure, and an unwavering commitment to our mission and values, I believe NWMAF can continue to grow, strengthen our community, and expand our impact.
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Photo courtesy of the Bonobo Sisterhoood Alliance
Meet the Incoming Treasurer: Ellen Krause-Grosman
I first came to NWMAF Special Training with Patti An’s Cambridge MA dojo around 1993 and loved it. I returned after many years away raising a family in 2016 when I came to the tri-alliance gathering and have been a regular attendee ever since.
I have trained in Karate, Judo, Tai Kwan Do, and empowerment self defense. I have served as Treasurer on a number of boards and have been responsible for Quickbook Bookkeeping as part of some of those roles. My husband Michael is a CPA and Quickbooks expert and has been a great (free) resource for best practices for the non profit boards I have served on as well as for the for profit and non profit companies I have worked for. I am currently the Executive Director of the Bonobo Sisterhood Alliance and on the planning committee for the NWMAF October training in RI. I am looking forward to serving our community.
Messages from Outgoing Board Members
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From Connie Halporn, Outgoing Chair:
During my tenure as Chair we were able to accomplish many things. We had the great fortune to get an anonymous donation to pay Amy Eckert to refresh and fix the website, and updated the trifold brochure that we can share with people showing who we are and what NWMAF stands for. We established consistent branding for the National conferences and Weaving Strength regionals, with classroom schedule sheets, signage and other graphic materials. We even have labels to put on water bottles! And a NWMAF channel on Spotify.
We hired a part time web manager to keep information current on the site. With the amazing partnership with our outgoing Secretary, Tasca Shadix, the membership was kept informed and sometimes even entertained by the on the goings-on at NWMAF. Diane Wallander, although originally just the Development coordinator, took on the herculean task of putting together and running the Forward Together 2025 annual conference. With Beth Deal’s dedicated work as Membership Coordinator, the membership backlog was eliminated, and new members are contacted in a timely fashion. Our past treasurer, Cheryl VanHoosen who was a remarkable partner at the 2025 conference as well, stayed the course until Corinne Lagermasini was up to speed on the position of Treasurer. Additional thanks to Mona MacDonald for the brilliant layout and design of the conference booklet and logos year and year out, and to Bo Bednar for creating engaging posters highlighting our instructors.
Truthfully, there are so many members and allies who made us a success, I’d be
typing for days. Please accept my gratitude—I hope you know who you are…
To my great sadness, I ran out of time to finish many of the tasks I had set myself to do when I put my name in nomination for Chair. As always, the health and continuing success of NWMAF is up to the membership. Getting enough people to step forward to take on Board positions and committee roles will help the organization function properly in pursuit of our shared mission. Consider what NWMAF has meant to you. As I close out my term as Chair of NWMAF, it was a privilege to serve the membership of NWMAF.
Yours in Judo
Constance (Connie) Halporn
Rokkyudan, Kodokan Judo
Monica Villanueva, Outgoing Vice-Chair
Serving this community has been an honor, and I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished together. NWMAF is powered by strong, capable women and allies, and I have full confidence in the continued momentum of our mission. I will remain a supporter and advocate, and I’m grateful for the relationships, learning, and shared purpose that have shaped my time in this role.
Clara Porter, Outgoing ESD Coordinator
It has been an honor to serve as your Self Defense Coordinator for the past 4 years.
I have benefited so much professionally and personally from NWMAF since attending my first conference 30 years ago. Every year I made new friendships, deepened old ones and gained learning and insights that enhanced my self defense work and martial arts practice for the coming year.
I’ve seen many changes over the years and witnessed the growth of NWMAF as a leader in Empowerment Self Defense teaching, training, and certification. I am grateful to the founders of NWMAF and ESD for their vision and leadership and am glad to be part of the legacy of this organization.
Our 2023 conference was the first in which there were equal offerings of Martial Arts and ESD sessions and this was repeated in 2025. This parity was long sought and the achievement means that our whole community can benefit from both pillars of our organization while also building representation of the Healing Arts. I look forward to being part of the next chapter of NWMAF as an active member and continuing to be part of this incredible organization.
Tasca Shadix, Outgoing Secretary
I’ve been putting off writing my “goodbye” statement, because I feel so emotional about leaving the Board. Serving the NWMAF has been a wonderful and deeply meaningful experience, not least because it gave me the opportunity to reconnect and work with new friends and old, including some personal heroes of mine. It was also a means to honor my first Sensei, Suzanne Pinette, and the high regard she instilled in all her students for this organization.
Suffice it to say, I’ve been so glad I jumped in, re-connected, and engaged! While I’ll be off on a UK adventure for much of the next year, I’m not leaving NWMAF. I may even be able to convince the new Board to let me keep doing this newsletter, ha! (On that note, don’t worry if there isn’t an August edition as the new folks settle into their roles and I settle down in Scotland.) There are such great things ahead for our beloved organization! I look forward to the next time we’ll train together again!
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Re-Cap: Weaving Strength Chicago
It’s hard to overstate how wonderful last weekend’s training was. Suffice it to say that the Thousand Waves planning team of Nancy Lanoue, Pat Broughton, Ryan Libel, and Zoë Morgan (along with many other staff members and students at the school) knocked this one out of the park! They managed to host the largest regional training yet, while meeting many important NWMAF goals including:
* Significantly increased racial, gender, and age diversity
* Parity and cross-pollination between Martial Arts and ESD
* Introducing new potential members to NWMAF. (During a show of hands, roughly half of the attendees were not members and/or had never been to an NWMAF event.)
* High quality instruction
* Community-building, leadership, and networking opportunities
Congratulations and thanks to Thousand Waves, the folks who supported the event through NWMAF (particularly Connie Halporn and Amy Eckert), and everyone else who took part by teaching, attending, donating, and supporting in other ways!
Post Evaluation form here
(If you attended Weaving Strength Chicago and haven’t filled the evaluation form out, please take a moment to do so in order to help us plan future trainings!)
Link to the full photo folder here
(We encourage you to add any photos that you took!)
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And Don’t Forget…
Save the Date for Weaving Strength NE!
This fall’s New England Weaving Strength event will be held in Providence, Rhode Island on October 3rd & 4th at Providence BJJ. The event is open and welcoming of women, transgender and non binary youth and adults. Mark your calendars — more details to come in the next few weeks!
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Images from the 2024 Weaving Strength NE training!
Reminder: Annual Youth Art and Writing Competition!
Calling all young writers, artists, poets, and musicians! We want to celebrate your work! The theme is open this year, but work should somehow reflect your practice in Martial Arts, Healing Arts, and/or ESD and what it means to you. Please encourage young people you know and work with to submit to our 2026 Youth Art and Essay Contest using the QR code on the poster below! Note that in an effort to encourage as many entries as possible, it is FREE TO ENTER, and young people do NOT have to be NWMAF members to participate!
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Healing Arts Update
As a reminder, our Healing Arts Coordinator, Ashlyn Johnson, is seeking collaborators for an evidence-based position paper on the healing potential of Martial Arts and ESD, pulling together the three pillars of NWMAF as healing modalities. The paper is to be evidence-informed, grounded in peer-reviewed research, and designed for minimal volunteer burden. For more info on this project, please reach out to her at healingarts@nwmaf.org.
Empowerment Self Defense (ESD) News
Our monthly ESD Community Meetings (open to all – not just NWMAF members) are held the 2nd Monday of every month, generally from 4:00-5:00pm (EST). These sessions are open to everyone interested in Empowerment Self Defense. Please extend the invitation and registration link to anyone interested in participating. Zoom registration link for the monthly ESD Community Meeting.
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ESD Panel Discussion at Weaving Strength Chicago (l to r: Meg Stone, Diane Rosenfeld, Wasentha Young, and Carmen Alonso)
Check Your Website Profile!
Another reminder that members can once again “opt in” to show up in the NWMAF’s member directory and/or our instructor directory. If you’re not displayed and you would like to be, simply log in to your account. It will immediately take you to a screen where you can select Update Profile.
Member-Submitted News: Info on the IAESDP
From member Lissette Brassac Fitzgerald: “The International Association of ESD Professionals (IAESDP) is a professional association working to build the infrastructure this field has long needed — credentialing, standards, and now, practical business support for the people doing the work. NWMAF has spent decades building community and expertise in self-defense. We are glad to share these updates with your members as fellow builders in the same field, and we’re grateful to NWMAF for passing this along.” More information on IAESDP linked here.
Guidelines for Member-Submitted News
We love hearing from you! Do you have news related to your practice in one of our three strands — Martial Arts, Healing Arts, or Self Defense? As an NWMAF member, you can submit material to be featured in our newsletter and/or on our social media pages! We love to share member news, photos, events, and brags! To contribute material to future newsletters, please send details to Tasca Shadix (secretary@nwmaf.org).
The requirements are: (1) Items must be member news/announcements, and be consistent with NWMAF mission and values. (2) Items that could be considered promotions of goods or services for sale (e.g. books, paid workshops, etc), are limited to 2 posts and/or newsletter items per member per year. (3) NWMAF cannot “endorse” member products or services.
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