Dawn Schiller

Dawn Schiller is an expert survivor-leader in the anti-trafficking, domestic violence and sexual assault movements. Abused and trafficked on the streets of Hollywood in her teens by the infamous actor, John Holmes, she survived the gruesome Wonderland Avenue murders in 1981 and ultimately turned him into the police. Her subsequent years of struggle to survivorship, education and service offer valuable first-hand insight to community advocates. Today, she is a national speaker, educator, consultant and author. Dawn graduated summa cum laude in 2012 from Eastern Oregon University. She served on the committee to revise the university’s sexual harassment policy and received the “Women of Vision and Courage” award from the President’s Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW). She is a Phi Kappa Phi Kathleen Greey Fellow and received a teaching fellowship from Oregon State University earning her Master of Arts in Women’s Studies in 2017. Dawn taught women’s studies and activism at Oregon State University and shares her compelling story of abuse, trafficking and survival in her presentations and trainings to inspire, educate and motivate communities. Her academic presentations and trainings dynamically infuse personal lived experience and cover topics of anti-violence, anti-trafficking, teen/child abuse, the media, ally-ship, trauma informed care, resilience and healing. Dawn joined the board of directors at Face Forward, an organization that provides reconstructive surgery to survivors of violence. She is an art and social justice writer for the magazine, Crixeo.com and regularly conducts memoir-writing workshops in the Los Angeles area. Dawn’s greatest joy is the privilege to be a parent to her talented and beautiful daughter. www.dawn-schiller.com