"We're excited to welcome RJ Bent, Owner or The Edgy Gazelle"

Women Empowerment and Self Defense. No matter your age, physical condition or gender, you have the innate power to protect yourself. Claim it! Learn how to better use your unique gifts, as well as common objects in the world around you, to create your own personal security plan.

• Retired Supervisory
• Special Agent, U S. Department of State,
• Diplomatic Security Service
• Founder & Empowerer, Edgy Gazelle LLC

For twenty-one years, RJ stood between U.S. diplomats and danger on five continents, engineering the quiet routines that keep embassies open when streets erupt and nature turns hostile.

She has:

• Protected ambassadors, diplomats and senior officials in more than 30 countries
• Commanded embassy crisis-management teams through coups, civil unrest and natural disasters
• Ran global threat assessments, fraud investigations and emergency evacuations
• Trained and mentored law-enforcement officers, U.S. Marines, and Foreign Service diplomatic personnel world-wide
• Earned trauma-informed credentials in psychological first aid and grief support

Today RJ channels her frontline expertise into people-centric security for Buffalo and beyond. Non-profits, faith communities, and youth organizations—including Ronald McDonald House of WNY, Stitch Buffalo and Erie Niagara Health Education Center—have all called on RJ to replace worry with readiness. When tragedy shook a local neighborhood last winter, she designed and led an empowerment-plus-memorial gathering that helped residents reclaim both safety and hope.
 

Date: November 4, 2026
Time: Registration/networking: 5:30 PM • Dinner: 6:00 PM

Cost: $45/member • $55 guest
Dinner: Grilled Chicken Salad, Porcini Crusted Salmon, Eggplant Parmesan

Location: Rizotto Italian Restaurant, 930 Maple Road, Williamsville, NY 14221

Register by Friday October 30, 2026.