Dawn Valadez

Dawn Valadez, is a queer, Xicana, filmmaker, social worker, artist, youth development specialist, resource wrangler, and impact strategist. Raised by her Mexican American single mother, she never planned on being a filmmaker. Her award-winning, ITVS funded, feature documentary (with Kristy Guevara-Flanagan), GOING ON 13, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Dawn Produced/ Co-directed THE PUSHOUTS (with Katie Galloway). It is supported by numerous funders including, the Ford Foundation/Just Films, Sundance Doc Fund, CalHumanities, CPB, LPB, and others. She’s been awarded numerous honors, including the Al Bendich Berkeley Film Foundation Award (2017), and the Imagen Awards' Best Documentary Award (2018). She a producer on Vivien Hillgrove’s memoir film, VIVIEN’S WILD RIDE. Dawn advises on documentary films and public engagement campaigns and acts as a review panelist for a range of public documentary and other media funders. A proud graduate of UC Berkeley’s Master’s of Social Welfare program, she lives and works in Oakland, California.