Dawn Gunderson Taylor

Dawn Gunderson Taylor is currently the VP of Business Development at Lemonada Media. Dawn has extensive experience in leadership and talent management, having served in various roles at Hiawatha Academies and Teach For America.

Most recently, they were the Senior Talent Officer at Hiawatha Academies, where they managed and coached four Principals and served as a member of the Network Leadership Team. Dawn also led the functions of Human Resources and Talent Recruitment, responsible for recruiting, supporting, developing, and retaining a diverse team of 250 staff.

Prior to that, they were the Vice President of Collective Leadership and Events at Teach For America. In this role, they led a team of 11 focused on developing the personal, professional, and collective leadership of Teach For America’s over 9,000 corps members and 42,000 alumni. Dawn also led a cross-functional team that created the vision, aims, and design of Teach For America’s 25th Anniversary Summit, an event that brought together over 15,000 leaders in education.

Previously, they served as the Managing Director of Alumni Affairs at Teach For America. In this role, they were responsible for managing all aspects of alumni engagement, including programming, communications, and regional operations.

Dawn has a proven track record of success in leadership roles and is passionate about developing talent and supporting leaders in achieving their goals.

Dawn Gunderson Taylor has a Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) in Creative Writing from Minnesota State University Moorhead and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in English from the same school.

They are on a team with Stephanie Wittels Wachs - CCO, Amber Gerardy-Robinson - MD, Social Media & Digital Strategy, and Sarah Hack - Head, Development & Strategy. Their manager is Jessica Cordova Kramer, CEO. Valerie Wire - Manager of Business Development, Sisi Dong Brinn - Director of Business Development, and Michael Knutson - Director of Business Development report to Dawn Gunderson Taylor.