Stephanie Cyr is an attorney and educator with over 25 years' experience as a specialist in violence prevention education, personal safety and empowerment.
Stephanie is Faculty Lecturer of Personal Defense at San Francisco State University (SFSU) and is responsible for developing the first University Accredited Minor Degree in Empowerment Self Defense (ESD). She is the author of higher education and secondary school personal safety curriculum and programming. She is a member of the SFSU Sexual Violence Prevention Coalition and works closely with the campus counseling office, the SAFE Place, to provide trauma informed workshops for the campus community. Stephanie also serves as a consultant to the San Francisco Unified School District and has written self defense curriculum and trained instructors for the secondary school physical education department. As Program Manager for ESD Global, Stephanie managed a team of international academics to further curriculum development. Currently, she is collaborating with academics from other countries to further violence prevention research and trauma informed practices.
In addition to her work in academia, Stephanie serves as an Organizational Consultant for nonprofit organizations and businesses. She is a Senior Facilitator and curriculum writer for PAVE Prevention, an organization dedicated to providing healthier non-violent work environments in the private and public sector. She serves as a Board Advisor to ESD Global, Inc. and as a member of Joyful Heart Foundation dedicated to supporting survivors of gender based violence.
Stephanie is the founder of Edge Self Defense and the author of The Weekly Edge and Moves of the Day. She has been featured at WorldWideWomen’s Girls Festival SF 2019 and as a speaker at the Violence Prevention Education Conference 2021 and on the PAVE Prevention blog, Disrupting the Dominoes. Currently, she has combined her violence prevention work with her practice as a Health Coach to create PowerUp Moves, an organization dedicated to helping people lead healthier, safer lives. Stay tuned for the PowerUp Moves youtube channel making ESD accessible and affordable to all.
Stephanie is a practicing martial artist with nearly thirty years of experience across more than 10 different martial arts with certification in Tae Kwon Do, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Krav Maga. She is a graduate of Dr. Elizabeth Stanley’s MMFT course in trauma informed pedagogy and she is a certified Health Coach through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. Stephanie studied Public Leadership at Harvard University Continuing Education and holds a Juris Doctor with Honor from University of Maryland School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Psychology from Rutgers University.
Listed above but I lalso love getting outside as much as possible with my family and dogs.
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I am a violence prevention expert who teaches empowerment-based self- defense ESD. ESD is an evidence based program shown to improve physical and mental wellbeing as it pertains to personal safety. I have run programs for individuals of all ages and in workplaces where ESD training has been shown to improve the well being of employees as it emphasizes the power of connection and community.
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