Our Founder

Shawn Alex Nemeth is a talented speaker, author, coach, and entrepreneur whose life purpose is to help childhood trauma survivors heal and thrive. He is also the Founding Director and CEO of Chester Street Foundation, a nonprofit he established to shine a light on childhood trauma through education and awareness.

Having suffered horrific abuse as a child, Nemeth threw himself into nonprofit work as an adult, compassionately working around the world to help others heal while the child inside suffered in silence. In 2009, he was hospitalized with PTSD and learned that severe trauma had been encoded in his brain and body during the many years of abuse and neglect. With treatment, courage, and self-compassion, Nemeth began the long road to recovery and set out on a mission to give traumatized children a voice by educating the community about childhood trauma issues.

In addition to sharing his inspiring story with audiences large and small as a professional speaker and through his work with Chester Street Foundation, Nemeth has also chronicled his experiences in his book, Thorns of Chester Street.

Get the Whole Story

Shawn’s moving story is captured in his autobiography the Thorns of Chester Street. Proceeds from the sale of his book benefits the Chester Street Foundation.

Shawn’s Book