Brandy Bynum Dawson

Brandy Bynum Dawson serves as Vice President of External Affairs at MDC, where she leads the organization’s integrated strategy for communications and brand stewardship, policy and advocacy, strategic partnerships, and community and stakeholder engagement. As a member of the senior leadership team, she works across MDC to strengthen the organization’s visibility and influence, cultivate critical relationships, and connect its knowledge of the South to opportunities for policy, systems, and community-level change.

Bynum Dawson brings more than two decades of nonprofit leadership experience spanning rural and community development, public policy and advocacy, strategic planning, organizational capacity building, and cross-sector collaboration. Before assuming her current role, she served as MDC’s Senior Program Director for Rural Prosperity and Investment, leading a state, regional, and national portfolio of rural development and capacity-building initiatives.

Before joining MDC, Bynum Dawson was Senior Director of Policy, Research, and Innovation at the NC Rural Center, where she oversaw the organization’s research and public policy agendas and a portfolio of innovative programs. She previously co-founded and served as Associate Director of Rural Forward NC, helping rural communities and organizations strengthen collaboration, build capacity, and advance locally driven solutions. Earlier in her career, she spent more than 12 years at NC Child, leading research, policy, advocacy, and community-based initiatives focused on improving outcomes for children and families.

Throughout her career, Bynum Dawson has worked with communities, funders, policymakers, public officials, philanthropic institutions, and regional and national partners. Her experience includes work focused on economic mobility, education, health and behavioral health, child and family well-being, juvenile justice, civic engagement, and rural community development. She has also contributed her leadership to numerous boards and committees and has been recognized for her commitment to advancing change for North Carolinians.

A native of rural northeastern North Carolina, Bynum Dawson earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology, cum laude, from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in mental health policy from North Carolina State University. She also holds an executive certificate in nonprofit leadership from Duke University.