Dawn is a dedicated community investment leader with deep roots in South Carolina and serves as executive director of the LISC Upstate South Carolina program office. 

The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) is a national nonprofit that has delivered more than $27 billion to urban and rural communities in every state, with a particular focus on narrowing racial gaps in health, wealth, and opportunity. It operates through 37 metro area offices and a national rural program that supports work in 2,200 counties.

Dawn works with residents and partners across the Upstate of South Carolina, to include Spartanburg, Greenville, and Anderson counties, to create resilient and inclusive communities of opportunity. The programmatic focus of LISC Upstate includes ambitious plans to invest in affordable housing, economic development, health, education and jobs throughout the region. 

Dawn has more than two decades of experience making high-impact investments that deliver sustainable results. Prior to her work with LISC, Dawn served as investments and grants manager at the South Carolina Community Loan Fund, where she helped drive the organization’s capitalization strategy and expanded its community development investments throughout South Carolina.

Prior to that, she spent nearly a decade at The ETV Endowment of South Carolina, first as membership manager and then as director of planned giving, helping fuel statewide public broadcasting programs. And earlier, she was a branch officer at The Palmetto Bank, overseeing personnel, managing budgets, and conducting lending activity. 

A native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, Dawn diligently serves in her community and volunteers for several local non-profit organizations. She is a student mentor at local schools and colleges; a member of the Advocacy Committee of the United Way of the Piedmont; a 2015 graduate of the Grassroots Leadership Development Institute through the Spartanburg County Foundation; a 2016 graduate of Spartanburg County’s Citizens’ Academy; a graduate of the 2020 Class of Leadership Spartanburg; and a 2021 graduate of The Diversity Leaders Initiative, a program of Furman University's prestigious Riley Institute. In the past, Dawn has served as an elected member of the District Five Board of Trustees of Spartanburg County, a board member of Middle Tyger Community Center, Chapman Cultural Center Board of Trustees, and the Alumnae Association Board at Converse College. Dawn is a graduate of Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and holds a B.A. in Business Administration and Marketing. 

Dawn resides in Upstate South Carolina, with her husband of 25 years, Avery, and she is the proud mother of two young-adult sons, Aaron and Alexander.