In October 2002 several staff from the Janet C. Anderson Gender Resource Center (Jill Hedt, Scott Tims, and Kim Talbot) visited a rural HIV prevention program in Lewiston, Idaho called Sister's Project.

Sister's Project focused on HIV prevention with heterosexual women and was adapted from Sista's Project, an HIV prevention program for African-American women. Sista's project is the only empirically validated HIV prevention program for women of color endorsed by the Center for Disease and Control. After visiting Sister's Project and researching ISU and community agencies, it was apparent that there were no programs in Southeast Idaho addressing HIV prevention with women identified as high risk by the Center for Disease and Control. Specifically, there were no programs targeting women who are homeless, women in domestic violence situations, and women with substance abuse issues. It was determined that not only did Southeast Idaho need an HIV prevention program for women, but the Janet C. Anderson Gender Resource Center at ISU could provide the space and structure to support such a program.

Through a collaborative effort on the part of the Anderson staff, a grant was written and submitted to the state STD/AIDS office. The grant was awarded and funding officially began January 1, 2003. Jill Hedt was selected as project coordinator and the project was given a name, Women's Issues and Sexual Empowerment (W.I.S.E.).

The first W.I.S.E. group was held in April 17, 2003 at Family Service Alliance; a community agency providing services to women and men who are victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. In staying with the original mission to target high risk populations, W.I.S.E. has provided groups to women in the community including: women who are homeless, domestic violence victims, and women with substance abuse issues. In addition, W.I.S.E. has provided groups to college women at Idaho State University.

Within its first year W.I.S.E. has provided 70 group level interventions, 20 large outreach activities, and over 20 presentations on campus and in the community. In the years to come W.I.S.E. will continue to educate and empower women in Southeast Idaho.