OUR FOUNDER
Dawn Sutherland approaches each day as a new “Dawn”-ing. Her passion showed from a young age, as she academically excelled and grew her love for the African Diaspora and arts.
Dawn completed a 32-year career with XEROX CORPORATION where she worked from the USA to Guam, to England. She spent the last 10 years of her career as Vice President of Finance for the Western United States providing financial leadership. Her financial expertise was instrumental in creating strategic business models that grew market share,
increased brand awareness and yielded year over year growth. Fondly, she was known for managing from the heart, managing change and building teams which delivered results.
Dawn hung up her corporate coat January 2014 to focus on her passion, Africa, and now lives in Ghana.
Characteristically, she hit the ground running as the key orchestrator for the 2014 RESTORE Medical Mission where medical doctors and lay volunteers from the USA came to Ghana to perform reconstructive surgery. This invaluable cause provided new hope for those who had none.
Dawn’s energy in Ghana has been tireless. A true lover of culture and art, she devotes time in the building and developing of a culture center; a much needed medical clinic in the Fieyse village and renovating a senior high school in the Village of Obo. As Dawn was given opportunities to gain higher education, so is her desire for youth to have the same.
“Changing one life, one person at a time,” is Dawn’s mission. With her newly formed foundation, Bridge-To-Africa Connection, Inc., a non-profit 501© (3), she is accomplishing this by building self -sufficiency, education and empowerment in women and children.
Hailing from Jamaican and Cuban roots, Dawn has a world view. As long as God gives her breath she plans to continue as a philanthropist, entrepreneur, lecturer, and motivational speaker. She also consults with advocacy organizations that are committed to empowering women with practical, financial, business and self-reliant skills.
Dawn serves on several non-profit boards in the USA and Africa. She’s been awarded many commendations for her business and humanitarian efforts. She earned her MBA and Masters of Social Work from Clark Atlanta University and her Bachelors of Arts from Boston College.
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