Sasha L. Ponappa, MSW, received her undergraduate degree in Social Work from Rochester Institute of Technology, and later received her Master's degree in Social Work from Gallaudet University. Her experiences include working for the Family Violence Program at Society for Protection and Care of Children in Rochester, NY; Assessing Safety Initiative, a program funded by Office of Violence Against Women, in New York, New York; and Deaf Hope, a Domestic Violence (DV) and Sexual Violence (SV) organization for Deaf survivors, in Bay Area, California. Sasha is currently an Advocate Coordinator at Deaf Abused Women's Network (DAWN) based in Washington, DC and she provides services and support to DV/SV Deaf survivors using American Sign Language. DAWN services include peer empowerment, legal & medical advocacy, system advocacy, 24/7 hotline and linking survivors to community resources.