Through most of her young life, Cherry Kingsley lived with abuse and exploitation. At the age of 22, Ms. Kingsley overcame 8 years of drug addiction, sexual exploitation and abuse as a child prostitute by reconnecting with her First Nations' roots. Cherry took to action, shortly after, spreading her story and encouraging other young women and youth to tell their stories to the world. Taking these stories, Ms. Kingsley holds conferences, such as Out of the Shadows to increase awareness of the lives of fear child prostitutes live. Currently she is leading Out of the Shadows and into the Light project in partnership with Save the Children-Canada that seeks to empower young women and Aboriginal youth to break the cycle of the sex trade that some of them get caught in. Cherry travels the world gathering stories from other children and speaking on their behalf at international conferences. The Ontario government has hired Ms. Kingsley to consult on policy matters concerning youth and sexual exploitation within the province, and in 2000 she was the recipient of the Governor General's Award. She continues to gather young women's stories and give voice to a topic that is so often shrouded in silence.