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CHANDRA DAWSON
Executive Director
Chandra Dawson, LISW, LCSW is a Licensed Independent Social Worker. Her professional career includes over 20 years of social work practice serving various marginalized populations primarily comprised of communities of color. A substantial portion of her career involves designing, managing, and implementing programs designed to meet the multifaceted needs of the underserved. She has years of organizational experience including case management, crisis intervention, supervision, training, project management, and senior leadership within organizations serving trauma survivors within the District of Columbia. Chandra’s professional background includes managing contracts at both local and federal levels, leading non-profit organizations, and designing and implementing training programs to support various local and state systems, such as TANF, victim services, behavioral health, and homeless services.
Her capability in programming and technical assistance has been instrumental in addressing the complex needs of these systems. Her ability to establish and maintain vital relationships with organizations across systems has contributed to developing formal partnerships vital to trauma survivor safety, healing, and equitable service accessibility. Chandra is deeply committed to the development of system-level trauma prevention and intervention efforts designed to address the intersecting issues of racial and economic oppression.
She formerly served as Vice President for Friendship Place, a local nonprofit serving the housing needs of homeless individuals and families in the District of Columbia. She is also the founder of The MACRO Project Inc., a social work consulting practice providing ethical trauma-informed services to groups, organizations, and agencies representing various systems. As founder, Mrs. Dawson provides consultation and training to organizations and licensed professionals addressing topics such as intersectional trauma-informed service provision, domestic & sexual violence programming, multicultural intervention, equity, and more. Mrs. Dawson is a former 2020 Leadership Education and Advancement for Professionals (LEAP) fellow, a program funded by the Office of Violence Against Women. She holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Maryland at Baltimore with a practice interest in Social Action and Community Development.