“I have an amazing network of people and an amazing support system, and there are so many people who don't have that,” Imhoff said. Imhoff describes incubator directors Tommy White and Bill Bellows as “amazing.” She’s also found encouragement from staff in the Kogod Honor Society, as well as her academic advisors. She’s found this strength, in part, from the support she’s received at AU. Her ultimate goal, she said, is to be able to sell her product, tell her story, and gain the strength to help other people tell their stories. “Hopefully we can launch the product before I graduate.” She also collaborates with underclassmen interns through the incubator program each semester. She is currently working on her prototype in Kogod’s Entrepreneurship Incubator, to which she was accepted a year ago, collaborating with app developer Alaeldin Tirba, BSBA ‘18. It addressed the issue of freeze response by activating just through voice. She envisioned it based on Bluetooth, using the same GPS and voice recognition technologies available in smartphones. ![]() The idea: a device, not unlike Life Alert, that could notify people for help through voice recognition. "I started thinking about products that could help people, and thinking about the problem I had in my life.” The seeds of an idea began to germinate in an information technology class she was taking. Imhoff wanted to do something that could help people - something that might help other women not end up in her situation. A common freeze response is verbally protesting without moving physically, which is what she experienced. Research into fear responses helped Imhoff learn about freeze response, sometimes known as tonic immobility. She was confused as to why she didn’t fight back, she says. “Otherwise, I don’t know if I could have stayed,” she says.Īfter her experience, Imhoff was overwhelmed by anxiety and stress. Imhoff also received follow-ups from the school to ensure she was safe after the hearing. The University conducted a summer-long investigation, followed by a formal hearing and a week of deliberations, at the end of which Imhoff’s attacker was dismissed from campus. Her assailant lived in the same building.Ī few weeks before the end of her freshman year, Imhoff filed a formal complaint before going home to Denver. She was inspired to found BeBrave because of her own sexual assault experience - an incident that happened only a few years ago.ĭuring her second semester at Kogod, Imhoff was sexually assaulted in her dormitory. Imhoff’s road to success has not been an easy one. The annual event recognizes student-founded ventures that are making a difference in the business world - whether through social good, innovative ideas or unique products. ![]() Last spring, BeBrave won first place, as well as the social impact track audience award, at the George Mason University Dean’s Business Competition. The BeBrave device, which fits inside a bracelet or a locket necklace, alerts friends and law enforcement through voice activation and a pre-set emergency word. ![]() ![]() The company sells sexual assault prevention wearable technology, giving women protection and power in the event of an attack. Imhoff’s venture BeBrave, founded in 2017 through American University’s entrepreneurship incubator, does exactly that. The Kogod senior has channeled her personal challenges into her work, using business to empower herself, and those around her. Grace Imhoff’s story is one of triumph, not tragedy.
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