Speaker: Dawn Carter, Founder, New Dawn Strategy Group
This award honors your career & impact on NACE members. What's motivated you to get involved & stay involved with NACE throughout the years?
Dawn Carter: What has motivated me to stay involved with NACE over the years really comes down to people and the sense of community. When I attended my first NACE conference in 1998, I was very early in my career and honestly overwhelmed as an ex-introvert. But people like Deb Chereck immediately made me feel welcomed, and along my career, people like Margaret Pollen always made me feel supported. In that moment, I realized I had found more than a professional association. I had found my tribe throughout my career. So many leaders within NACE encouraged me to step outside my comfort zone, take on leadership opportunities, and grow as a professional. The mentorship and encouragement, shaped not only my involvement with NACE but my career journey. What has kept me engaged for nearly 3 decades is knowing the work we do truly impacts lives, helping students find opportunities, organizations, helping to build early career talent pipelines, and creating profession built on collaboration and community. That's what continues to inspire me to give back today.
Can you tell us about one or two accomplishments you’ve had with NACE for which you are particularly proud of?
Dawn Carter: With over almost 30 years at NACE, I have many things that I'm super proud of, but two things that come to mind that kind of top the list. The first was a lap, which, which was the Leadership Advancement Program. It was something that we had created to install foundational skills for future leaders. I was lucky enough to be part of the first class and super lucky enough to co-chair it twice, so it was something that I loved to do. It gave me an opportunity to meet future leaders. The second is the work we do at advocacy. I had the honor to co-chair and chair the advocacy committee, and during that time we had a great opportunity just to really work with the Hill and understand what was going on and have influence. So those are two things I'm super proud of.
