Event Speakers
Dawn Schiller, M.A., Expert Consultant & Survivor
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 porn actor, John Holmes, she survived the gruesome Wonderland Avenue murders in 1981 and ultimately turned him into the police. The movie, “Wonderland” depicts her story, portrayed by Kate Bosworth and Val Kilmer as John Holmes. She recently worked with NBC Universal on a docu-drama surrounding the Wonderland murders due for release in 2018.
Her subsequent years of struggle to survivorship, education and service to others offer valuable first-hand insight to community advocates. Today, she is a national speaker, educator, consultant, and author.
Detective Kathryn Torres, Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, Ventura County Human Trafficking Task Force
Kathryn Torres has been with the Sheriff’s Office for 9 and half years and is assigned as the full-time coordinator and detective of the Ventura County Human Trafficking Task Force. She works collaboratively with victim service providers, governmental agencies, and nonprofit organizations to rescue victims and arrest their traffickers. Her main objective in the Task Force is to educate fellow first responders on signs of Human Trafficking, establishing a protocol, investigating these crimes, and working with victims in a trauma informed dynamic.
Christan Perez, Client Services Program Manager, Interface Children and Family Services
Christan has worked in social, wellness, and human services for 16 years, having worked in both Ventura and San Diego Counties. She began her career in social services as a case manager for “At Risk” Youth, and now oversees the human intervention services with Interface Children Family Services which includes a shelter for adult survivors, 24-hour response team, community based services, and the Ventura County Victim Services Task Force. Christan’s professional ventures have provided her the opportunity and experience of working directly with victims and survivors of human trafficking, and raising awareness to the issue in our community. From working in homeless outreach sites, to psychiatric care facilities, and drop-in centers, Christan has become well versed with the Peer Advocacy Model, Stages of Change, and the personal and professional perception that all persons were created equally. She believes everyone deserve the opportunity to be heard, and supported in reaching each own’s identified successes, free of judgement and stigmatization.
Christan strongly believes that a community free of stigma will better support the survivors in accessing the resources and benefits made available to them. Without these services, and support, victims of human trafficking continue to run the risk of further victimization.
Dr. Allison Santi-Richard, Emergency Medicine physician, Los Robles Hospital
Dr. Allison Santi is an Emergency Physician who works at Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center in Thousand Oaks California. Originally from Michigan, she attended medical school at Wayne State University in Detroit then came to California for residency in Emergency Medicine at UCLA/Olive View in Los Angeles. During medical school, she spent 2 months at Okhaldhunga Hospital in Nepal assisting staff, and provided trainings across the Detroit area for schools regarding health, nutrition, drugs and alcohol as well as education regarding sexually transmitted infections. Following graduation, she worked at Los Angeles County in the Emergency Department as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, Keck school of Medicine at USC. During this time, she worked with Community Partners International providing medical training and program implementation and development for Internally Displaced Persons from Myanmar, including a comprehensive tuberculosis and filariasis treatment program, as well as a trauma training program along the Thailand border. As the Assistant Director of the International Medicine group, she also traveled to Ghana and Chile as well, participating in medical conferences. She currently maintains her faculty position at Keck School of Medicine as an Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor or Emergency Medicine.
Starting in 2015 she began a collaboration with the Ventura Coalition for Human Trafficking, Forever Found, CAST Los Angeles, and Interface Child and Family services and has been providing education regarding Human Trafficking primarily to health care providers including physicians, nurses, midlevel providers and first responders throughout Los Angeles and Ventura counties. She is also a part of the speakers bureau for HEALtrafficking, a multidisciplinary group of health care professionals providing training regarding Human Trafficking.
