Watch the 2021 Annual Meeting of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce and the special presentation of the Austinite of Year award to Susan Dawson. Click here.
Mayor Steve Adler proclaims February 3, 2021, Susan Dawson Day in the City of Austin!
December 10, 2020 – The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce announced today that Susan Dawson, E3 Alliance President and Executive Director, was named “Austinite of the Year” for 2020. To see the Chamber’s complete press release, click here.
Susan Dawson is a Texas entrepreneur, business, and civic leader. As a successful business entrepreneur turned social entrepreneur, Dawson has led multiple technology firms and founded and leads the E3 Alliance (for Education Equals Economics), a regional collaborative to increase economic outcomes by aligning our education systems to fulfill the potential of every student. E3 Alliance has been recognized across the country for its groundbreaking work in systemic change for education. Dawson has served as Chair of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce as well as board chair and executive member of AARO, Leadership Austin, Children’s Optimal Health, Workforce Solutions, American Youthworks, and Austin Partners in Education, among many other community groups. Her many awards include the Leadership Austin Polly Scallorn Award for Lifetime Achievement in Community Trusteeship, Austin Under 40 “Austinite of the Year,” Hero for Children by the State Board of Education, Austin Profiles in Power “Profile Leader,” Ernst and Young “Entrepreneur of the Year,” Dell Medical School Health Hero, UT McCombs School “Trailblazer Award” for the distinguished woman alumni trailblazer in business and community, and a CEO of the Year by the Austin Chamber. In 2011 the Austin Business Journal named Dawson one of “Austin’s 30 Most Influential” leaders who have shaped Austin’s economy and culture in the last 30 years, and in 2019 she was named the national Cradle to Career Champion by StriveTogether.
Dawson has a BS Cum Laude from Princeton University and an MBA with Highest Honors from UT Austin McCombs School of Business. She is mother of two public school graduates; one now in dental school, and one at Purdue University. She is surviving Stage 4 breast cancer first diagnosed in 2016, and has spent significant time over the last few years understanding and working to improve the cancer research, prevention, and clinical care infrastructure in our region and our state, particularly for those who are most underserved.
