Collab Announces Dawn Leaks as Executive Director
February 1st, 2022, New Haven, Connecticut — Collab has announced Dawn Leaks, a seasoned entrepreneur and nonprofit leader, as its new Executive Director.
Leaks, a resident of Hamden, comes to Collab with extensive experience in entrepreneurship programming, coaching, and strategic leadership. She was the CEO of Lioness For The Female Entrepreneur, an online digital media company geared toward women entrepreneurs. While at Lioness, she achieved profitability by increasing revenue by 200%, expanded their global audience to over 100,000, and led the startup’s exit in 2020.
“The Board is excited to welcome Dawn to the Collab community!” said Leela Bhashyam, Chair of Collab’s Board of Directors, “We were drawn to her deep lived experience as an entrepreneur as well as her embodiment of the values important to Collab - heart centered, equity focused and compassionate leadership. We look forward to seeing what amazing things she will bring to fruition at Collab and how she will encourage and challenge us to grow as an organization.”
“Dawn has a truly special combination of energy, compassion, and deep expertise,” said Collab Co-Founder, Caroline Tanbee Smith, “It’s hard to imagine a more ideal and fitting leader for this next chapter of Collab’s work and impact.”
Before Lioness, Leaks was the Director of Communications and member of the senior leadership team at the American Red Cross of Massachusetts, where she led statewide disaster communications, public relations, and fundraising efforts. She received an MBA from Bay Path University, and has served as an Entrepreneur in Residence at the UMass/Valley Venture Mentor Collegiate Summer Venture Program and Visiting Assistant Professor of Social Entrepreneurship at Hampshire College. She has also served as a Facilitator of entrepreneurship programming at reSET, an accelerator in Hartford.
“I am honored and humbled to join Collab and lead us into our next chapter,” said Leaks, “What inspires me most about Collab's work is the dedication to providing quality education and business supports to underserved entrepreneurs. As an entrepreneur, I know firsthand how receiving the right education, the right resource, or even the right amount of compassion at the right time can be transformative in the life of an entrepreneur.”
Leaks brings to Collab a unique combination of for-profit and nonprofit experiences, and a dynamic leadership style centered around team empowerment, relationship-building, and prioritizing the success of entrepreneurs.
Since its founding in 2017, Collab has worked with hundreds of early-stage entrepreneurs with a focus on underserved communities in Connecticut. With Leaks’ leadership, Collab is poised to deepen and expand its support for local entrepreneurs.
Learn More About Collab
Collab is an early-stage accelerator that supports individuals in using entrepreneurship to build wealth for themselves and their families, create local jobs, build economic power, and shape their communities with a focus on people of color and women entrepreneurs. Since 2017, Collab has supported hundreds of entrepreneurs, including almost a hundred graduates on their Accelerator. Of those graduates, 83% are people of color-led and 74% are women-led. For more information, head to Collab’s website at www.collabnewhaven.org.
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