Nexion Solutions and Sojourner Family Peace Center collaborate to save lives

Startup founder and CEO Liz Kohler channeled her personal tragedy into a powerful mission: protecting vulnerable individuals.

In 2007, Kohler lost her sister to domestic violence. Since then, she has been driven to use her time and talent to help protect the safety of victims of domestic violence and high-risk witnesses as they work with the criminal justice system.

In 2022, that passion inspired her to launch the Milwaukee-based startup Nexion Solutions.

Unsatisfied with the tools available to support those in danger, Kohler developed a wearable, GPS-enabled device that allows the user to immediately alert authorities when the wearer is in danger.

The impact of the product, known as NightWatch, has been profound. The tool has already saved lives during its pilot program partnership with Sojourner Family Peace Center.

According to Kohler, “we have been able to achieve significant results: two abductions of women thwarted, one ambush thwarted and hundreds of calls for emergency help responded to.”

“When Liz came to us with this innovation, we were already reformatting our strategic platform. Our three pillars are Prevention, Client Experience and Operating Efficiency. We know in order to achieve that we need to focus on culture partnerships and innovation. I think this idea of using AI automation technology to advance our work holds a lot of promise. This project fits perfectly into the direction we’re trying to head into,” Sojouner President and CEO Carmen Pitre said.

Inspired by the success of the 60-person pilot program, Nexion Solutions and Sojourner Family Peace Center are collaborating to expand the NightWatch program.

“I think the information we are gathering is giving Liz some helpful vital information on the for-profit portion of her business, but for us, this is a human rights issue, it’s about adding a layer of safety to the lives of people who are vulnerable, and it proved to be exactly what we thought it would be. There are great outcomes. It’s a small pilot, so the fundraising is about getting more resources to get more devices on our clients,” Pitre continued.

As the largest nonprofit provider of domestic violence prevention and intervention services in Wisconsin, the organization serves an estimated 10,000 clients a year. With a vision to extend protection to 1,000 clients, Sojourner faces a funding challenge. Each NightWatch device costs $650 annually, covering hardware and connectivity expenses.

Nexion Solutions and Sojourner are working together to raise the funds needed to meet the needs of Milwaukee’s at-risk citizens.

“Our theme is connection saves lives and increases wellbeing,” Pitre said. “If Liz and I can work together to create the right framework, any person should be able to buy the device and … having a device would add a great deal of safety to their lives, so I’m very excited about where this could go. I know Liz is dedicated to making that happen.”

“For me, it’s about getting as many devices as we can out in the field because it makes people feel better. If you do this work … you know that the greatest challenge of this work is the suffering and the fear that people go through- it’s not only the traumatic incidents, but our clients are living in fear. And these devices help alleviate some of that,” Pitre explained.

While the organization welcomes all donations, the NightWatch campaign is focused on corporate donations.

“As corporate citizens, our job is to align our visions and missions with the work we do both inside and outside our companies. For us at Nexion Solutions, that means aligning ourselves with organizations committed to doing the unrelenting work to reduce violence around the country. We are honored and proud to link arms with agencies like Sojourner Family Peace Center as they work tirelessly to improve the safety of our city – and we are asking for your partnership in this effort,” Kohler wrote in her appeal for support addressed to Milwaukee-area startup founders.

“People don’t typically think of innovation and nonprofit (organizations)… but I think this is a great example of that intersection of doing good and creativity,” Pitre stated. “I would encourage people to think more about these kinds of opportunities. The great thing that the nonprofit arena offers the community is to have much greater impact than you could in the for-profit world- a different kind of impact. What Liz is doing is sending ripples in a way that you could not necessarily do with a for-profit (endeavor). I invite people to continue to think nonprofit innovation.”
“We’re going to change the world together- at this intersection,” Pitre said.

To support the NightWatch campaign, send an email to Giving@FamilyPeaceCenter.org with the subject line NightWatch for more information.