Dawn Schwartz worked in law enforcement and criminal justice for 25 years prior to transitioning to Public Health 2 years ago to lead the Community Overdose Action Team (COAT) community coalition in Montgomery County, Ohio. In her current role leading this coalition, she has utilized her many police, fire, court and community connections to build a network of collaboration and data sharing to drive Montgomery County's actions in addressing overdose deaths and drug use. Mrs. Schwartz has helped lead the drive to build a pre-arrest deflection initiative in her county, and she and her colleagues successfully launched this ipartnership with Dayton Police and Fire departments in 2025. Working in the addiction field for 23 years, she is always working toward out of the box solutions to address substance use in her community. An expert in communications, collaboration and engagement, she is always looking for effective ways to address the opioid epidemic and overdoses in her community.