Influential Woman · Grassroots non profit
Dana DiFilippo
Co-Founder, Survivors Solidarity March
Woodbine, MD
Her Story
About Dana
Dana DiFilippo serves as organizer and co-founder of Survivors Solidarity March, a grassroots non-profit initiative adopted by the National Women's Defense League. As a survivor of sexual assault, she focuses primarily on outreach and the emotional aspects of the movement, conducting state-to-state outreach and coalition building to connect survivors with resources and highlight legislation. Dana draws on her sales experience as a representative at Cisco Baltimore, and previously at Soft Stuff Distributors in Jessup, Maryland, to support these efforts. She holds a GED and attended some college without completing the first year. Dana emphasizes transparency, honesty, and solidarity in her work, aiming to spread awareness and information to survivors who may face barriers due to trigger words. She attributes her success to being raw and open with personal pain and struggles, and she received the advice that one door closes but another always opens. Dana advises young women entering the field to follow their gut instinct despite challenges.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Dana
01What do you attribute your success to?
My success comes from being raw and open with our own pain and struggles. We bring our personal experiences into this movement and understand that we're not the only ones withheld from resources. As a survivor, I avoided trigger words like rape and sexual assault, which created barriers, but now we're spreading awareness.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
One door closes, but another always opens.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
It can be scary, it can be nerve-wracking, but if you feel it's right in your gut, then go with it. Sometimes you're not always going to meet people who are on your level, but when water meets water, things just flow.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest hurdle is that organizations we're reaching out to are facing funding cuts. This is a purely voluntarily driven movement, and it costs money for people to send out employees and set up wellness tents. The main struggle is making sure this happens across the nation, but we're planning to make this an annual event.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Transparency, honesty, and solidarity. Since this is very delicate work, I am constantly in touch with multiple survivors. A lot of survivors are in the dark, they don't know about a lot of these things, so my goal is to just spread awareness and information as best as we can.
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