Executive Spotlight: Paula Talbot Dawson

Paula Dawson loves a challenge: She takes on the No. 1 killer in the United States for a living as vice president of development for the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association of the Capital Area. Dawson’s career in nonprofits did not begin immediately after graduating from college with a degree in general studies. She spent some time volunteering, took some classes through the University of Phoenix, then entered the corporate world. Later, she accepted a job with the American Heart Association, in part inspired by an aunt who had suffered multiple strokes and heart attacks. Dawson is based in her hometown of Baton Rouge with a staff of 10, but also helps oversee employees in the Lafayette and Lake Charles areas. You can find the full Q&A with Dawson, from the new issue of Business Report set to his newsstands Tuesday, here. The following is a sample:
What was your first job?
“In high school I applied at Wendy’s, even though my parents preferred I not work. I was hired as the hostess, or ‘peppermint girl.’ My family teases me to this day, saying I was replaced with a basket. After college, my first job was at Prevent Child Abuse Louisiana. That is where my love for nonprofit work began.”