About Summer Willis Foundation
A survivor-centered organization built on advocacy, community, and lasting change.
A survivor-centered organization built on advocacy, community, and lasting change.
Through trauma-informed advocacy, bipartisan collaboration, and transformative storytelling, we create spaces where survivors are empowered to share their experiences and drive systemic change.
Our founder, Summer Willis, is a survivor of sexual violence. In the wake of her assault, she experienced firsthand the systemic failures, silence, and shame that often define the survivor experience. She began running as a bold act of reclamation. This personal challenge grew into 'Project 29'— a commitment to run 29 marathons as a testament to her own resilience. She met survivors around the world, each with different lives yet she observed the same pattern. She realized Sexual violence thrives on shame, silence, and laws that haven't kept up with reality. Eventually, Project 29 grew into the Summer Willis Foundation. SWF was established to combat the root causes of sexual violence in innovative and community-driven ways to make a lasting impact.
Summer found her true, renewed strength not just in the miles, but in community, in the power of telling her story without shame , and in a fierce new purpose: creating tangible change so that what happened to her wouldn't happen to others. She realized she had a choice: accept the narrative of 'victim,' or rewrite it. She chose to rewrite it. That single run transformed into a public mission. What started as 'Project 29' became a movement. Summer founded the Summer Willis Foundation to ensure that no survivor ever feels alone and that every survivor has the tools to find their own power—whether on the running path, in their community, or in creating systemic change.
Mission & Values
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Through our commitment to advocacy, community, and resource provision, the Summer Willis Foundation exists to reframe the narrative around sexual violence, empower survivors to reclaim their stories, and create lasting systemic change that prevents future harm.
We center survivor voices in everything we do — leading with compassion, trust, and unconditional support.
Healing happens in community. We build brave, connected spaces where survivors are never alone.
We don't just respond to harm — we work to dismantle the systems and cultures that allow it to persist.
Three core pillars drive everything we do — from the individual survivor to systems of power.
We're combatting shame and stigma by focusing on resilience, community, and strength. SWF understands that community and collective action can be transformative in ending stigma and empowering individuals to be their own change-makers. With this, we build a movement to end sexual violence.
We foster local, national and global safe spaces where survivors and allies can connect, heal, and create lasting change together, through our Denim Race Series, speaking engagements, upcoming Resource Map and Advocacy Bootcamp projects, and more.
We work with legislators across party lines at the highest levels of government, both federally and at the state level, to push for stronger protections and accountability for survivors.
Dedicated advocates committed to survivors and systemic change every day.
Summer Willis is the Founder, Executive Director, and Board President of The Summer Willis Foundation. A Mom and Wife, her commitment to public service includes prior roles as a Teach for America educator and a Peace Corps Volunteer. Leveraging her personal journey, she became the namesake of the Summer Willis Act in Texas, which redefined consent law. She is an endurance athlete who sometimes takes on extreme challenges, such as running 29 marathons in a single year, to raise awareness and fund survivor resources.
Katiana is the Board Vice President and Chief Development Officer at the Summer Willis Foundation, where she leads national awareness campaigns, fundraising initiatives, and organizational expansion.
After being sexually assaulted during her first year of college, Katiana found strength in advocacy. Her early activism began with serving as a named plaintiff in a Title IX compliance case, pressing for stronger campus-safety systems and institutional accountability. Before joining SWF, she focused on grassroots efforts to expand resources for college survivors as well as reproductive rights advocacy in Texas and Tennessee.
Alongside founder Summer Willis, Katiana now drives SWF's development pipeline, donor partnerships, multi-state growth, and high-impact national campaigns — including the forthcoming Denim Runs series, a national resource map for survivors, and the "Letter to My Younger Self" film. She is dedicated to building innovative and sustainable infrastructure, amplifying survivor voices, and advancing meaningful policy change.
Born and raised in Texas · B.A. Political Science & Public Health, Vanderbilt University · Certified Yoga Instructor
Samantha McCoy is an award-winning appellate attorney, public speaker, activist, and licensed master social worker. Following a sexually violent crime, Samantha dedicated her career to ensuring all gaps within the judicial system are finally closed and all survivors of sexual violence are treated in a dignified and trauma-informed manner.
Samantha has successfully lobbied for several laws in five states, the federal TAKE IT DOWN Act, and a United Nations Resolution — all of which strengthened the rights and protections for survivors.
M.S.W. & Certificate of Advanced Study in Trauma-Informed Practice, Syracuse University · J.D. summa cum laude, St. Mary's University School of Law
Experts, survivors, and advocates who guide our work with wisdom, lived experience, and specialized expertise.
