Her Story
About Dongayla
Dongayla is a survivor, advocate, and nonprofit founder whose work is rooted in turning personal trauma into meaningful support for others. After surviving a sexual assault while traveling in the Bahamas in February 2024, she chose to speak publicly about her experience, including an appearance on Nancy Grace, where she helped raise awareness around travel safety concerns and contributed to elevating the travel advisory for the region. In the aftermath of intense public attention and personal hardship, she found an unexpected path forward through pageantry, which helped her regain confidence and begin shaping a vision for how she could support other survivors. That vision became SASS (Sexual Assault Safe Space), a nonprofit she founded in September 2024 to provide immediate, compassionate support for survivors of sexual assault. What began as a small effort to assemble care packages quickly grew into a structured organization with a full board and official 501(c)(3) status by January. Today, SASS has delivered more than 300 care packages to survivors, working in close partnership with rape crisis counselors who distribute them directly in hospital settings so that support reaches victims at the moment they need it most. Her work also includes outreach to sponsors, board coordination, event planning, and community awareness-building, including preparation for the organization’s first gala. Balancing advocacy with motherhood and ongoing healing from PTSD, Dongayla leads her organization with resilience, honesty, and a strong commitment to service, even on difficult days. She is also in the early stages of writing a book about her experiences, while continuing to expand SASS’s mission toward establishing the first inpatient care facility for sexual assault survivors in the United States. Alongside her nonprofit leadership, she takes on additional work to support her family but remains grounded in the belief that SASS is about purpose over profit. Her efforts have been recognized by organizations such as the Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention Coalition, and she continues to use her voice, platform, and lived experience to advocate for survivors and drive systemic change.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Dongayla
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think I'm successful because I'm an influential woman who has turned my pain into purpose and made an impact far beyond myself. I'm not just someone who survived trauma, but I became a voice for people who often feel voiceless. Through SAS, I've built more than just an organization - I've created a place where survivors can feel seen and supported and safe. My influence is rooted in my actions. I choose to serve publicly and to share my story, even when it's painful or controversial. I've transformed this personal pain into advocacy, outreach, and community support through the care package drives, awareness events, and speaking, whatever it may be. I just strive to make a difference in people's lives, and I lead with that vulnerability instead of pretending to be perfect. I let people know that I have PTSD still. Every day is not easy, but I still wake up and try to do the best on the days that I can.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
If you do what you love, then you'll never work a day in your life. I truly feel like with SASS, it's not a job, it's not volunteer service that I do, it's just part of me and part of who I am. So find a job that is you. Find something you love to do and run with it.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
It is not your fault. You did not deserve this. You didn't ask for it. It was his actions, his choices, his decision, not yours. You are not the one at fault. You matter. We believe you. And we see you.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I have a lot of opportunities with the local sexual violence resource centers, especially since I have utilized their services, so I've built up a relationship where they refer people to me and I refer people to them. It's been great and a good networking opportunity as well. I think the biggest challenge that we have is not knowing what we don't know, and also getting people to volunteer with the right skills in the right places that we need them. For example, we need a grant writer, but we don't have the funds at this point to hire a grant writer, and I'm not having any luck finding anyone to volunteer their services. But I'm not gonna give up, because I'm pretty tenacious. I know that I'm gonna get that grant writer really soon and within the next year that I will have a paid position, and my board members as well.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
First and foremost, I put my faith above all. God is my foundation. He has walked me through the unimaginable loss and hardship and taught me to rely on him in ways that I didn't before. Also, my family is my foundation. They have supported me and been with me through every suicide attempt, through everything that I went through, and they have just reminded me of my worth. So, my family, my God, and then also my integrity, my core values would be just being authentic to myself at all times and living with a purpose. I want to wake up every day with a purpose to do something, to do something good, to accomplish something. And I want to instill that value into my kids as well.
Keep Exploring
More Influential Women · Kentucky
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.