Dawn McAvoy
Consultant
dawn@loebleadership.com
“I engage in a partnership with my clients. I want them to know and feel that I am committed to their success, which involves listening, understanding, and connecting. Additionally, I value and prioritize building trust so we can have the honest and direct conversations required to co-create sustainable change.”
Meet Dawn McAvoy
Dawn McAvoy brings over 25 years of professional experience. Throughout her career, she has been driven to help leaders and organizations be more effective and do their best work. She has worked closely with CEOs and other executives to learn what strategies work well and where opportunities exist in manifesting their mission.
As an Executive Coach, Dawn brings empathy, curiosity, and support to each client experience. She meets her clients where they are, sharing tools and resources where appropriate. She builds a collaborative partnership that includes action planning and accountability measures to set them up for success. When she managed the coaching program in the Key Executive Leadership Program at American University, she worked with thousands of federal executives across many agencies.
Because of her passion for supporting purpose and mission-driven organizations, Dawn has consulted for numerous nonprofits and federal agencies. Her nonprofit work has involved succession planning, strategic planning, organizational assessment, and performance management. Her federal agency experience includes facilitation, organization development, or leadership development work for NASA, FCC, FEMA, NIH, USDA, and the VA.
Dawn’s sweet spot is solving problems with creativity, client care, and keen resource management. With an eye for identifying gaps, along with process and system development opportunities, she collaborates with leaders and teams to envision and create sustainable change while shaping an environment that fosters trust.
She earned her master’s degree in Organizational Leadership and bachelor’s degree in English. Her professional certifications are the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, EQ-i 2.0/360, and Certified Professional Career Coach. As a certified FranklinCovey facilitator, she has facilitated courses in the federal government, such as The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Project Management Essentials, and The 6 Critical Practices for Leading Teams.
Dawn volunteers with her local PBS station, provides volunteer coaching services to a national organization, serves on the board of the Mid-Atlantic Facilitator’s Network, and is a member of Project Management Institute.
Areas of Expertise
Leadership Development, Coaching, and Mentoring
Executive Coaching
Workshop Design
Emotional Intelligence
Interpersonal Dynamics
Strategic Thinking
Operations & Execution
360 Assessments & Feedback
Performance Management
Enhancing Communication
Honors & Awards
Innovation and Change Award/American University/June 2021
Customer Support Award/American University/June 2020
Staff Performance Award for Inclusive Excellence/American University/May 2019
Club Coach Award/Toastmasters, District 27/June 2013
District Governor’s Award/Toastmasters, District 32/June 2011
Innovative Marketing Award/Toastmasters, District 32/November 2010
High Performance Leadership Award/Toastmasters, District 32/June 2010
Outstanding Initiative Award/Toastmasters, District 32/June 2009
MEMBERSHIPS, ASSOCIATIONS, + CERTIFICATIONS
Mid-Atlantic Facilitator’s Network/Board Member, Marketing Chair, Programming Committee/2023-Present
Chesapeake Bay Organization Development Network/Board Member, Conference Chair, Conference Advisor/2021-2023
Association for Talent Development/Board Member/2013-14
Northern Virginia SHRM/Training and Development SIG Co-Lead/2015
Toastmasters, District 27/Area Governor/2013
Toastmasters, District 27/Club President/2013
Toastmasters, District 32, District Public Relations Officer/2010
Compass Pro Bono/Pro Bono Consultant for DC Area Nonprofits/2012-2021
Education
Chapman University, MA-Organizational Leadership, Washington, Graduated 2011
Pellissippi State Community College/CDA: Early Childhood Education, Tennessee, Graduated 2003
University of Tennessee, BA-English, Technical Communication, Tennessee, Graduated 1996
Certified Facilitator
Emotional Intelligence 2.0®
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI)
Relevant Experience
Client Type: State Agency
Industry: State Government
Issue: The client was struggling with change, trust, and communication on her team.
Our Approach: I was part of a consulting team that provided training and coaching. I provided executive coaching to a senior executive and several members of her team (total of 12 people). My colleague and I also provided 4 training modules (1/month) on different leadership topics. The team had “homework/assignments” to complete before the next training and reported on their progress the next month. My coaching supported the training but also addressed individual needs that each leader was facing.
Result: The leaders engaged with each other and the content during the trainings. They built accountability partnerships. Their trust grew from month to month. The individual coaching generated conversations and outcomes that positively impacted their teams and each other, sharing resources and ideas. After four months, the team had more trust than they had experienced in 2-3 years. They developed greater self-awareness. They were willing to have difficult/hard conversations. The senior leader I coached was more confident and taking more risks, which generated better and faster results for her team.
Client Type: Nonprofit Agency that helps vulnerable families with housing and health needs.
Industry: Nonprofit
Issue: The client needed a succession plan for their CEO.
Our Approach: Over the span of three months, I collaborated with two senior leaders. I learned about the organization’s pain points and gaps. We developed processes to inform a succession plan, which included the following: Skills Matrix, Onboarding Checklist, Offboarding Checklist, Gnatt Chart Hiring Timeline, Staff Procedures and Protocols, and an “If-Then” document.
Result: The client gained a plan for staff training and development, a skills assessment tool, and a roadmap to building out our HR policies. The end result – adding individual growth for staff members to their corporate culture as well as a plan for succession in every area of the organization.