Meg Appelgate is the CEO of Unsilenced, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to stop institutional child abuse by empowering self-advocates to promote lasting social change. The organization envisions a world where youth are free from institutionalization and the voices of young people are respected in the development of their own mental, emotional, and physical well-being.
At the age of 15, Meg was abducted by two strangers in the middle of the night from her California home and was told that “she was coming with them”. 8 hours later she found herself at a lockdown treatment facility in Boise, Idaho. Then, 6 months later, she found herself in an additional behavioral modification program in northern Montana where she spent the next 3 years.
After graduating college, with a degree in psychology, completely oblivious to the abuse she had experienced, Meg spent the next 17 years dedicating her life to serving on various non-profit boards to help them with board development and recruitment and expanding their programs to further their impact. It wasn’t until she was well into her non-profit career that she woke up to the abuse and brainwashing that plagued her childhood and the effect it had on her entire adulthood. It was then that she became determined to pair her love of giving back and helping those in need, with her dedication to empowering other survivors of institutional abuse.
Meg brings to Unsilenced an extensive background in non-profit management, board development, and fund development. She is actively involved with and serves on the Board of Directors at Laura’s House and The Shea Center. When she doesn’t find herself fully immersed in new ideas for fundraising and development, Meg loves traveling to see new places with her husband and 4 children.
In this candid and revealing conversation Meg shares with Rachel the harrowing experiences of her adolescence that inspired the work she does today. Throughout the discussion, Rachel relates to Meg the insights she's gained from her years working with people who've been negatively impacted after encountering dangerously unprofessional practitioners in the therapy field.
Before You Go: Rachel reiterates how silencing whistleblowers allows abuse to continue and exemplifies why communication is a fundamental human need by explaining the genesis of the obscure Chinese language of Nushu.
You can find more info about Meg's organization at: https://www.unsilenced.org/
Follow Meg on Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/megappelgate
IG: https://www.instagram.com/megappelgate/
Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@megappelgate
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