Why We Built the Advocates Paying Advocates Marketplace

By Shawndell Dawson, Founder & CEO, Dawson Visionary Enterprises

The Gap No One Was Filling

For over 40 years, advocates in the violence prevention movement have been the backbone of survivor services. The work is essential, and the dedication is unwavering. Yet I kept noticing something in my 28 years in this field: while grants fund direct services for survivors, they rarely fund professional development for the advocates themselves.

Grant-funded training programs do incredible work preparing advocates for frontline service delivery. But what about the advocate who wants to move into management? The supervisor navigating their first year of leadership? The executive director trying to build a healthier organizational culture?

These professional development needs often fall outside grant-funded priorities. And that's exactly the gap the Advocates Paying Advocates Marketplace was designed to fill.

Complementing, Not Competing

Let me be clear: we are not here to compete with grant-funded resources. Those services are essential and irreplaceable. Instead, we're adding resources to the field that grants don't typically cover:

Leadership & Organizational Capacity: Board governance, strategic planning, organizational effectiveness, leadership development

Peer Support & Frontline Tools: Advocate self-care resources, peer support systems, workflow templates, job aids

Enterprise & Business Development: Consulting resources, business development tools, marketing templates for advocates exploring entrepreneurship

A Communal Economy

What makes this marketplace different is who benefits. When you purchase a resource here, you're not sending money to an outside vendor who doesn't understand our work. You're directly supporting a fellow advocate who created something from their own hard-won expertise.

Creators keep 85-90% of every sale. Resources stay within the movement. And advocates support each other economically while maintaining their mission work.

This is what we mean by a communal economy: advocates paying advocates.

Your Mission. Your Financial Future. Both Matter.

I spent 15 years managing $260 million in federal grants serving 1.3 million survivors annually. I've seen firsthand how the movement depends on dedicated advocates who often sacrifice their own financial stability for the work they love.

I believe it doesn't have to be either/or. Your mission and your financial future can both matter. Supported advocates create a sustained movement.

Welcome to the APA Marketplace. We're glad you're here.

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