Cultivating Collaborative Doers
Dawn Svenson Holland
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA
Dawn Svenson Holland is honored to join the CARTHA team and envisions a nonprofit world where the collaborative spirits smile as nonprofit silos, sense of ownership, and egos move aside for more effective mission fulfillment and accountability. Dawn started her philanthropic journey assisting her late father in his community development leadership at the Decorah Fire Department, Winneshiek County Fair and Nordic Fest (an event he co-founded). She graduated Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Luther College with a double major in communications and political science. Her professional experiences include internships at the Iowa State Fair and the White House, six years in corporate marketing communications, four years in constituent work at a Mayor’s office. For the past three years, she has engaged in professional fundraising work aiming to follow the example her father set for her. Dawn currently serves as President of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Eastern Iowa Chapter and is a member of the Eastern Iowa Planned Giving Council board and the Cedar Rapids Downtown Rotary. She was part of the Corridor Business Journal “40 Under 40” Class of 2009. She was also the youngest person in program history selected for the Leadership Iowa program when she joined their class of 2002—which is where she first met a classmate: CARTHA founder Usha Balakrishnan.