the highlights

2017
Formed a team under the name 'HP-TIE' and competed in the Anu and Naveen Jain Women's Safety XPRIZE, which had a $1 million prize purse, and called upon innovators worldwide to find a technological solution to women's safety concerns.

2018
Ran a month-long campaign, #StandForSafety, where students shared their stance on personal safety.

2019
Rebranded to BOLT, reflecting the importance of speed in safety. Launched the BOLT platform on the WIX mobile app on December 18th on UBC's Vancouver campus.

2020
Federally incorporated as BOLT Safety Society on 07-07-2020. Launched the pilot Safe Hubs project with 9 partnered safe spaces, funded by RisingYouth, TakingItGlobal, The Government of Canada, and Canada Service Corps. Premiered 'backyards with bolt', entailing interviews with community members on topics pertaining to safety and well-being.

2021
Hosted a global discussion event featuring panelists on period poverty and gender-based violence with our partners at For The Menstruator. Launched the Safe Buddies program in response to mounting concerns of street violence and harassment, which lead to features in notable media publications, including CBC, Global News, and CTV. We were later awarded a RisingYouth grant for Safe Buddies, leading to program expansion. Safe Buddies started to operate a national phone hotline, and provide event-based coverage, starting with the Drishti Awards Gala which saw over 700 guests.

2022
We presented to the City of Richmond Council, were among 10 non-profits Canada-wide selected to receive a charitable donation from L'Oréal Paris through their 'Women of Worth' program, got Google-funded (for life), got sponsored by Evo Car Share, covered our largest event with Safe Buddies yet (1,000 patrons), advocated for better legislation and had our statement read in the Canadian House of Commons (which led to the tabling of Bill C-28), took our work international in partnership with the Princess Diya Kumari Foundation and with the support of the Royal Family of Jaipur, launched Project LyghtNyng with over 150 workshop participants in the pilot stage, and called upon Government of Canada leaders to mitigate the lack of survivor-centric social services and shelters in rural communities.