Changing Lives

Empowering Chats with Susan Burrell

Ep#268 - Changing Lives - An Interview with Activist Dawn Manske

I had an Empowering Chat with this incredible individual in May of 2022 and I think it’s time to re-air this interview.

If you missed this the first time around or even if you heard it when it first aired, I encourage you to listen again. I am honored to welcome Dawn Manske, activist and CEO of Made For Freedom to Empowering Chats. Her story of courage and innovation is awe-inspiring. You may need Kleenex by your side as you listen to her journey of how her innovative social company came to be. Made For Freedom, uses fashion to empower victims of sex trafficking and other marginalized situations.

The 10 years Dawn spent in China teaching English helped her to understand the unbalance produced by the devaluation of the girl child. This was her first exposure to poverty levels she had never seen before. In 2007 she viewed a documentary about sex trafficking that deeply affected her. She desperately wanted to see this horror and injustice come to an end but she had no idea what could be done from her hometown of St. Louis, Missouri.

Dawn shares her story of how her dream to help rescue and restore girls being victimized started with a pair of pants. Made For Freedom arose as the number of compliments she received from complete strangers about her super-comfortable fisherman pants, (purchased in Thailand) soared. It was stories like these and others that compelled Dawn to make the following pledge, “If there is any way I can help girls like this by selling pants, I will sell pants.”

That pledge marked the beginning of Made for Freedom, and Dawn hasn’t looked back since. She partners with centers that are located in the United States and abroad to sell products made by the survivors of human trafficking. It is a win-win situation. The women and girls are given dignified employment with skills that empower them to walk away from their former life and create a beautiful new life with a purpose.

Together, with her partners, they are all committed to doing everything in their power to help women around the world know that we are all Made for Freedom.

To learn more about Made For Freedom and to purchase their products visit: MadeForFreedom.com

To learn more about Dawn Manske visit: MadeForFreedom.com/our-story

To learn more about me and how I show up in the world please visit my website: SusanBurrell.com