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Our Leadership and Staff

Dawn Melchiorre | Executive Director

Dawn Melchiorre is a seasoned entrepreneur and nonprofit executive passionate about driving social change in her local community. Her nonprofit career began at Voices for Illinois Children where she organized advocacy campaigns raising awareness for issues related to early childhood education, mental health, and nutrition. Her success led her to the Greater Chicago Food Depository as Senior Director of Programs where she helped build the Illinois No Kid Hungry Campaign and the Illinois Commission to End Hunger. 

Dawn served as Chief Operating Officer of Forefront (Illinois), the regional membership association serving grantmakers, nonprofits, advisors, and public agencies. She directed operations, including member engagement, public policy, education, library services, and research. Most recently, Dawn served as Interim CEO at 360 Youth Services, leading the organization from a governance and asset transfer agency to a larger social service organization that provides stability for staff and the community it serves. 

Before her career in the nonprofit sector, Dawn spent ten years in the hospitality field as a small business owner. Dawn holds a Bachelor of Arts, Political Science from Loyola University Chicago, a Master of Arts, Public Service & Public Policy from DePaul University, and a Master of Business Administration, Nonprofit Management from Concordia Unversity Chicago.

 

Our Staff