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Baseline provides training programs that help people from all walks of life build practical personal-safety skills—often creating a welcoming space for participants to explore these topics for the first time.
Founded in 2018, Baseline began by offering local Community Safety Clinics focused on situational awareness, risk-reduction strategies, and foundational physical self-defense skills. Since then, our programs have expanded to serve school-age youth, women, newly independent teens, corporate teams, and active older adults. We also offer specialized Safety Labs designed to build confidence through the mastery of core physical defense techniques.
Baseline is a supportive, judgment-free environment for learning about resilience and personal safety at any age, stage, or fitness level.
People seeking practical guidance on personal safety often find limited options—typically martial arts programs for kids or short self-defense classes for adults. Comprehensive, age-appropriate support for avoiding and preventing unsafe situations can be hard to find. That’s where Baseline comes in.
Baseline teaches proven life skills that strengthen personal safety and resilience for people of all ages. Participants learn and apply concepts such as confidence, situational awareness, healthy and unhealthy relationship dynamics, and precaution-taking and de-escalation in both real and digital environments. Our programs also include physical defense skills for situations beyond one’s control, focusing on effective, evidence-based tactics accessible to individuals of all fitness levels.
Mary Stokas is a Charlotte, NC-based mother, community volunteer, healthcare professional, and personal-safety advocate. Since 2018, she has led community training events in personal safety and self-defense for participants of all ages—work that ultimately evolved into Baseline’s full suite of programs.
By day, Mary is a healthcare expert whose career has centered on addressing social determinants of health and supporting populations facing complex challenges, including poverty, violence, behavioral and mental health issues, and substance use. This background gives her a deep, nuanced understanding of what it takes to feel safe, grounded, and resilient in a complicated world. Through Baseline, she offers practical, credible guidance to people who are curious about personal safety but may not know where to begin.
In addition to her professional experience, Mary is certified in Crisis Prevention & Intervention, specializing in de-escalation for verbally hostile situations. While her core mission is to equip individuals with the life skills needed to avoid and prevent physical violence, she also brings a decade of hands-on training in physical defense tactics such as Krav Maga, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and active-shooter defense—adding real-world perspective to every lesson she teaches.
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