For more than 25 years, Doris O’Neal has been dedicated to survivor-defined advocacy, public policy, and restorative justice, with a focus on helping survivors who are African American, living in poverty, or experiencing housing instability. Doris O’Neal is currently the Director of Gender Based Violence Specialized Services and has been employed by the YWCA (Seattle/King County) for 18 years in her current position, she manages programs all the GBVSS programing on domestic violence transitional housing, community advocacy, and commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) and Sexual assault advocacy. In her previous role she worked for the King County Prosecutor's atty office for 16 years, her last position she served as a court victim advocate.
Doris is nationally recognized for her work on domestic violence and an expert on survivor centered advocacy. In partnership with the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence, she was a consultant on the
Technical Assistance Guidance Series: Serving Black Women Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence. In partnership with the King County Prosecutor’s Office, Doris established
Survivors FIRST (Facilitating Information and Resources for Survivors of Trauma) to directly connect survivors to intervention services without criminal charges.
Doris serves as a subject matter expert for the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys (APA) and continues to provide support and technical assistance to other community-based advocates. Doris is leading the Survivors FIRST program in King County WA and has presented for the MacArthur Foundation ‘Safety and Justice Challenge’ on Addressing the Vulnerabilities that Lead to Women in Incarceration.
In her spare time, she enjoys traveling with family and friends, gardening, and spending time with her grandchildren.