Dr. Lavinia B. Masters Keynote Speaker, Consultant, Advocate, and Coach
Empowering the world to see purpose beyond pain with a "twist of hope"
About More Than An Act: Lavinia Speaks
Dr. Lavinia B Masters
Dr. Lavinia Masters is a pioneering advocate and survivor of sexual assault who has significantly influenced legislative reforms in the United States regarding the processing of sexual assault evidence kits. Her efforts were instrumental in the passage of the Lavinia Masters Act in Texas in 2019, which mandates the prompt testing of rape kits. Dr. Masters has emerged as a prominent leader in the movement to address the backlog of untested rape kits and to enhance the handling of sexual assault cases by law enforcement agencies. Beyond her legislative advocacy, Dr. Masters has played a crucial role in educating courts and legislators in both the United States and Africa on the financial and legal requirements necessary to combat violence against women. Her advocacy work spans raising awareness, supporting survivors, and championing policy changes aimed at improving the criminal justice system's response to sexual assault.
CONGRATULATIONS DR. LAVINIA MASTERS ON YOUR INDUCTION
2023 Texas Women's Hall of Fame Inductee
Who is Lavinia Masters
Empower
Enlighten
Empower
SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVOR DECLARATION
Created by: Lavinia B. Masters
I am a survivor…I am no longer a victim of my past circumstances.
Today I promise to:
Reach out for my deliverance
Embrace my recovery
Receive my healing and
Release all the pain that sexual abuse and rape trauma brings.
Today I am stronger…I now realize that I hold th
SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVOR DECLARATION
Created by: Lavinia B. Masters
I am a survivor…I am no longer a victim of my past circumstances.
Today I promise to:
Reach out for my deliverance
Embrace my recovery
Receive my healing and
Release all the pain that sexual abuse and rape trauma brings.
Today I am stronger…I now realize that I hold the keys to unlock my empowerment:
I choose to be delivered so that I can fulfill my destiny
I demand my recovery because God and I have a plan
I claim my healing because I know I have a purpose and
I must release the pain so that I can breathe again.
Educate
Enlighten
Empower
Lavinia believes in mentoring with compassion, guiding her champions to trust the processes of discovering their full purpose beyond their past pain so that they too can empower, educate and enlighten their communities on how to promote healing and seek justice for victims while remaining trauma-informed, and survivor-centered.
With over
Lavinia believes in mentoring with compassion, guiding her champions to trust the processes of discovering their full purpose beyond their past pain so that they too can empower, educate and enlighten their communities on how to promote healing and seek justice for victims while remaining trauma-informed, and survivor-centered.
With over 30 years of public speaking which includes corporate training, a gift of transforming an audience, and a ravenous desire to encourage others to embrace purposeful living after trauma, Lavinia is a powerful advocate and speaker who moves audiences to take action and inspires other survivors to raise their voices.
Enlighten
Enlighten
Enlighten
Did you know that Dr. Lavinia B. Masters is also the namesake of HB 8: The Lavinia Masters Act of 2019?
She is also the 1st living African American and black woman to have a law her namesake not only in Texas but the US!
Lavinia is more than an act as she tirelessly fought since 2005 to raise awareness and demand change about the horr
Did you know that Dr. Lavinia B. Masters is also the namesake of HB 8: The Lavinia Masters Act of 2019?
She is also the 1st living African American and black woman to have a law her namesake not only in Texas but the US!
Lavinia is more than an act as she tirelessly fought since 2005 to raise awareness and demand change about the horrendous #rapekitbacklog once it was brought to her attention by now-retired, Sgt. Patrick Welsch of the Dallas Police Department, that her own sexual assault cold case from her childhood of 1985 was a part of the #backlog!
She then begin to campaign and petition legislators to make a change to the injustices that were being plagued upon victims worldwide due to this backlog.
Then she was introduced and joined forces with the amazing Representative Victoria Neave Criado in the fall of 2017 which took advocating for the rape-kit backlog to a higher level.
It was because of this union and Victoria's inspiration of the #metoomovement and Lavinia's story that she formed a sexual assault task of force which included Lavinia and it was here where World History, Texas History, and #BlackHistory were born!
HB 8: The Lavinia Masters Act is an omnibus bill that:
1. Require an audit of untested rape kits to determine the number, status, and location of all rape kits in Texas
2. Create timelines for the submission, testing, and analysis of all newly collected kits
3. Prohibit law enforcement agencies from destroying rape kits related to an uncharged or unsolved case until the later of (1) the length of the statute of limitations or (2) 50 years
4. Toll the statute of limitations for sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault until the rape kit is tested
5. Increase the time the Texas Department of Public Safety maintains rape kits classified as "non-reports" from two years to five years
Lavinia's story continues as an advocate and activist but also as a consultant, coach, internationally renowned speaker, and author. Lavinia is available not just to share her story of resilience but also to empower her audience to overcome and become conduits for change!
Lavinia's expertise in consulting and coaching includes movie directors, actors, public and private schools, universities, and several organizations that value the importance of her voice to empower as she promotes self-love, self-care, and the wealth of mental health!
Testimonials
Jane Manning Director, Women’s Equal Justice Project
I’m the director of a non-profit that serves survivors of sexual assault, and I’ve asked Lavinia Masters to speak at several events convened by my organization to advocate for a better legal system response to sexual assault. Each time, Ms. Masters has proven herself to be a surpassingly skillful and gifted speaker. She speaks with great strength and power, but also with great compassion and kindness. She has a remarkable ability to speak spontaneously, from the heart and with no script, but with tremendous discipline and clarity. I would be honored to attend any event at which she was speaking. She is a gifted woman who uses her gift to make the world more just.
Camille Cooper, Vice President of Public Policy RAINN
Lavinia Masters is a powerful advocate and speaker who moves audiences to take action and inspires other survivors to raise their voices. Her courage to come forward has inspired change at both the state and federal levels.
Denecia Spence, Ed.D. Speech Faculty Co-Chair — Equity Richland Richland Campus Dallas College
In the fall of 2019 as the co-chair of Equity Richland, I met Mrs.
Lavinia Masters. At that time, she was a panelist at two sessions of
our program entitled “I Am Evidence: A Community
Conversation.” During and after both sessions I had the
opportunity to witness her expressive public speaking skills, her
openness, transparency, and ability to transform the audience.
Her presence contributed to standing room only in the packed
gallery. Her kindness, professionalism, servant leadership, and
willingness to go beyond what was required of her, have forever
transformed my desire to continue to be of service to others.
Annarosa Mudd, actor/producer/writer
I was so honored to have the chance to feature Lavinia Masters as a speaker for a film I produced and starred in about my experience with sexual assault. Lavinia speaks with such clarity and bold honesty about her own experience, and coming from that place, she creates a loving and empowered space for other survivors and everyone who is listening. She is a bright light and powerful voice that is relentless, brave, and deeply loving. Lavinia makes every single person in her audience feel heard, valued, and that everything is going to be alright. For those of us working through traumas, there is nothing more gratifying and important. I am so grateful to her, and would highly recommend her as a speaker always.
Shalonda Waggoner Founder/President LatterHouse Decor
I would describe Mrs. Lavinia B. Masters as a true master (pun intended) of her craft. Public speaking is not for everyone. It can be both scary and intimidating, to say the least. But Lavinia has been chosen for this assignment. Her speeches not only touch every individual in the room, but she reaches to places that pull on our heartstrings that we never saw coming. Her voice permeates to the core of her subject matters. She uses her expressions to give thought-provoking speeches that come straight from her heart.
I appreciate her talks because I can always count on leaving with something that I thought I didn't need, like a better perspective on something. She has a way of allowing her audience to see things differently for the better of mankind.
I would recommend Lavinia to be a Public Speaker in any room because she will give you the flowers of life through her words that will captivate you and long be remembered.
Stephen Puddicombe National & Foreign Corresponder Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC)
Lavinia was and is amazing. She spoke thoughtfully and intelligently about a subject most would cringe at discussing. Her story and the way she told it made me realize I have met a very special person and that apart from this work we would become friends.
Lavinia changed my outlook and gave me hope for the future. To go through the horrible violence that she did but yet be willing to share her story to help others was beyond appreciated. She is thoughtful, brave, courageous, and caring.
Speakers like this; people like this are so rare.
LAVINIA TESTIFIES
Indeed, I am more than an act as I provide my expertise and training to middle and high schools as well as Charter Schools, Colleges, and Universities. I can be found speaking to the military, Corporate America, non-profit organizations, focus groups, law enforcement, Congress/Legislation, and law firms, as well as consulting directors/actors and celebrities on how to remain trauma-informed and survivor-centered when dealing with personnel on set and behind the scenes and the general public. Reach out to me to see how I can cater to your needs for your organization.