Dawn is an accomplished leader with experience in the law, politics, government, and philanthropy. She currently serves as a partner in the law firm of Boies, Schiller & Flexner, where as an attorney she has fought for undocumented immigrants, victims of financial crime, and voters facing intimidation.

For the last three and a half years, Dawn served as a Commissioner of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics. She currently serves as a National Board member of the American Constitution Society, a national legal organization that seeks to advance a progressive vision of the law.  Dawn has extensive experience in the federal government having served two Democratic Administrations, first as Assistant to the White House Chief of Staff and then as Executive Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, where she helped improve access to affordable health care.

During the 2008 election cycle, Dawn served as a Regional Political Director for the Hillary Clinton for President campaign, and then as the New York Political Director for President Barack Obama. Dawn has also worked in philanthropy for the Open Society Foundations and the Ford Foundation, two of the largest philanthropies in the world, where she managed approximately $40 million of grants promoting civic engagement, political reform, and grassroots activism.

Dawn grew up the daughter of a single mom, Irene Smalls, a Harlem native, and has three brothers, one of whom lives in the Bronx and one of whom lives in Brooklyn. Dawn lives in Manhattan with her husband and her three children.