FOUNDING MEMBER

Ben served 8 years on the front lines in Afghanistan, undergoing several tours of duty that involved both combat operations and training assignments within the United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF). During these years, he was engaged in essential strategic missions globally, operating with some of the most elite Tier 1 Special Operations groups where effective risk management was of utmost importance.

In total, Ben has dedicated his entire adult life to service, as a member of the Special Forces Support Group (SFSG) Parachute Regiment, in the space of international humanitarian aid + search and rescue, and within the security sector.

Ben left his service in the military fueled by a passion and commitment to expand upon his work serving others. This commitment led him into the humanitarian aid sector where he helped found an international humanitarian organization whose mission was to rapidly respond across the globe to disasters in collaboration with at-risk communities and support them before and after disasters.

Ben, like so many servicemen and women, experienced trauma during his military service. He was also keenly aware that he was not equipped with the right set of tools, skills and practices to work effectively with the consequences of the repeated combat-related traumas he was exposed to. As a result, he embarked on a journey to discover effective healing modalities. This ongoing search has introduced him to a wide array of trauma healing options for veterans, both mainstream and edge.

What Ben found was a large array of well meaning, but largely ineffective treatment modalities. Many he was exposed to turned out to be quite dangerous, and others gave marginal support at best that was not sustainable over time. Fortunately, after much searching Ben was able to piece together the healing landscape and understand what was effective and offered a great deal of promise.

What began as a personal quest to find his own personal healing solutions has led to a much larger mission: to scale trauma solutions that will help many others – their families and communities.

Ben co-founded The Dawn Collective to serve as a bridge between the military and civilian communities, between mainstream and edge trauma healing practices, and between the wide array of servicemen and women around the world in deep need of trauma healing. Ben has learned through his years of experience that trauma can be the beginning of the story, not the end. He believes that when healed, individuals that once suffered from trauma become powerful assets that may in fact prove to be the critical missing link in solving some of the deepest and most important issues on earth.

Ben lives in the Pacific Northwest with his partner, Caley, and their daughter, Sunny. He surfs, climbs, trains and dreams of the day he can bring Sunny along on all of his adventures.