Judith Alvarado grew up in New York City where she learned practical lessons in "street smarts". Her interest in travel led her to Taos, New Mexico, where she became involved in women's studies. In 1994, she began a one-year training program through the Taos Women's Self-Defense Project, a non-profit, multi-cultural, community-based volunteer organization serving women of Northern New Mexico. This form of self-defense was a grass roots movement devised for women by women from the Los Angeles commission of Assaults Against Women. Their goal is to empower women and to enable them to make informed choices about their personal safety.
Judith is presently the Haysville, NC, Program Co-ordinator of REACH, Inc, a non-profit organization that helps victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.