What if we dared to overcome our body insecurities and instead bared our vulnerabilities, literally, in an effort to conquer them? This thought launched the Movemeant Foundation and our flagship fundraising event, We Dare To Bare, into fruition five years ago.
Following a personal battle with body image, Jenny Gaither created Movemeant with the premise of changing the conversation around fitness from that of weight loss and dieting, to empowerment, body-positivity and community. By pairing advocacy and awareness with physical movement and community events, Movemeant sought to empower women to understand their true strengths and build confidence in themselves - their body, values, and abilities.
We Dare to Bare events are the foundation of this critical message – developed as a celebration of bodies of all shapes and sizes through sweat, community and courage. The event serves as a fitness playground where women come together to celebrate not just their grit, but their beauty with a variety of fitness classes. As a symbol of their confidence, women are encouraged to shed their shirts and proudly wear their sports bras as they sweat among their body-positive community while raising funds for Movemeant’s impact programs.
As Movemeant grows, so have our We Dare To Bare goals:
Enable women to find self-confidence through movement.
Fund fitness grants/curriculum to support girls 8-12, focused on creating a healthy, positive body relationship.
Provide tickets for ALL women, regardless of financial ability, to attend WDTB.
Update our body-positive curriculum to allow more schools to access the program.
In a time where calorie counting, misleading media and diet culture is at an all-time high, Movemeant chose to take a stand, reclaim confidence and celebrate and love our bodies exactly as they are. We Dare to Bare – an inspiring, high-energy, family-friendly, charity fitness festival – brings together the city's best fitness classes to empower women to find self-confidence and self-acceptance in a sports bra.
We Dare to Bare partnership and sponsorships are carefully vetted to ensure they are aligned with Movemeant’s values surrounding self-image, body positivity and empowerment. We ensure our partnerships will benefit the local community and the organization’s message as a whole. A fitness festival unlike any other, we have created a community based around the idea of support, acceptance and empowerment. The environment that we create is powerful: it asks attendees to be vulnerable, challenge themselves and embrace positive change internally rather than externally. We truly believe that every body, regardless of shape, age or financial ability, deserves support, strength and happiness.
The charity fitness event was designed for women to participate in a powerful and meaningful event to mentally move the barriers that have been placed in our minds and build self-confidence and self-worth through movement. The event series not only aims to give women the opportunity to take action and reclaim their own confidence, but they also give our next generation the chance to do the same through fundraising for movement-based body positive programs for adolescent girls. Through mentorship and community programs, Movemeant provides middle school girls accessible fitness and personal guidance curriculum for positive body image, peer-based mentorship and financial grants that make physical movement a reality.
To further support our initiative, Movemeant makes event tickets available for local nonprofits (breast cancer survivors, domestic violence survivors, LGBTQ, back to work programs, etc) that serve women who would benefit from participating in the event, but may not financially be able to do so. Receive the gift of confidence, give the gift of confidence--- together we can create a strong and powerful community of empowered women.
Since 2014, We Dare to Bare has been the foundation of Movemeant’s messaging, allowing us to reach thousands of women around the country. A celebration of body positivity and community for women, today the festival is held in New York City and San Francisco. The event is the primary fundraising event for Movemeant Foundation’s impact programs garnering $1,487,338 thus far towards our cause. Most importantly, the festivals have brought communities together to participate in body positive activities, inspire peer-to-peer fundraising efforts and promote the development of young girls so they can grow up to be strong, confident leaders.
Starting with the next generation, Movemeant’s proceeds go towards fitness grants and middle school curriculums to support girls 8-12 yrs old, focused on creating a healthy and positive relationship towards their body. The 12-week program works to normalize body insecurities and addresses media/societal pressures, physical and mental concerns and unhealthy habits. To date, 50 middle school sessions have used Movemeant curriculum to teach skills that support and cultivate a strong, confident community. The unique event series has given women the opportunity to take action and reclaim their own confidence, while also giving our next generation the chance to do the same through movement-based body positive programs.
In addition to our live events, We Dare To Bare and Movemeant Foundation continues building momentum behind this important conversation to a continuously growing audience on Instagram (+20.6K followers) and now introducing a Facebook private group for all 1,000 attendees.
