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Our History

The Resiliency Foundation was founded on the belief that every individual possesses the resilience to overcome insurmountable odds. It is our mission to help victims and survivors of forced marriage, human trafficking, and sexual abuse become thrivers. In other words, we are committed to ending modern slavery and exploitation.

In 2019, The Resiliency Foundation was founded as a direct service provider with a focus on mental health and overcoming trauma associated with child marriage, human trafficking, and sexual abuse. Our founder, Genevieve Meyer, is a survivor of child marriage and has years of experience working with healthcare providers, offering a unique perspective and skillset to the movement. However, as the work began and Genevieve shared her story, it became evident that she and the foundation could have a greater impact working to educate the general public on the issues and change legislation that fails to protect the vulnerable. Working closely with Tahirih Justice Center and other partner agencies, we help draft policy and then successfully lobbied the Indiana State Legislature to pass a minimum marriage for the state. 

This level of success is uncommon in the first year of an organization’s existence and we plan to continue leveraging this momentum to:

• Focus on and provide leadership on the issue of domestic forced marriage while setting policy guidelines for legislators at all levels of government including a minimum marriage age of 18 or 17 with judicial review.
• Collect survivor stories and data to guide our advocacy efforts and meet the needs of the people most effected.
• Create trainings and toolkits in order to reach a broader audience on the issues of child marriage and exploitation and what can be done.
• Establish a Midwest Coalition to End Child Marriage to continue the mission of the foundation, build capacity through organizations, agencies, and individuals working toward the same goals, and strategically target policymakers to create lasting legislative change.