Dawn was motivated to study Social Policy and Social Work because of her own life experiences – the awareness raised by Ken Loach’s 1966 film Cathy Come Home enabled Dawn’s family to escape homelessness, and Loach’s later films focusing on the plight of people struggling on the margins of society, inspired Dawn to follow a profession in social work and then academia in the School of Social Policy and Society.
She first entered the caring professions as a residential care worker. She subsequently moved from London to Birmingham to study Social Policy and Social Work at the University of Birmingham and qualified as a social worker in 1990. Dawn worked initially as a generic practitioner before moving into the statutory Children and Families division. During her time working with children and their families, she became a Senior Practitioner and Practice Teacher and subsequently managed a Duty and Assessment Team. Dawn later went on to work within the non-government sector - primarily within the fields of domestic abuse and then as a regional manager developing services for carers. She then moved into the education sector as a Research Fellow at Warwick University before moving back to the University of Birmingham, this time as an academic member of staff.
Following a Brexit-related hiatus of circa 6 years, when Dawn worked as a Director of Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing in the business sector in Germany, Dawn returned to the UK to continue her work at the University of Birmingham.
Dawn has been an active part of the Survivor Movement for over 25 years. She brings this lived experience to her academic work as well as to her role as Director of the Survivor Arts Project which includes facilitating survivor arts workshops and events and co-curating the Survivor Arts Exhibition (a permanent exhibition housed on the 7th floor of the Muirhead Tower and open to the public on open days).