Leadership & Solving Problems
Rooted in Family
From an early age, Dawnté’s parents instilled in her the value of perseverance, resilience and community service. Dawnté was born oversees on a military base as both of her parents proudly served our nation as members of the United States Air Force.
Like so many military families, Dawnté’s early years included frequent moves as her family was stationed around the world, including Europe and the Azores Islands. The last deployments were Mather and McClellan Air Force bases and it was then that Sacramento became her home.
“Seeing my parents serve, and traveling with them all over the world, made me not only appreciate the diversity of other cultures, but also showed me the importance of commitment; commitment to family, community, and country.”
Sacramento Becomes Home Court
Love, Basketball, Being A Mom & Becoming A Doctor
West Sacramento & Building Strong Communities
Dawnté started her career with the State of California serving as a public health researcher. However, when asked, Dawnté describes herself as a data detective. It is her job to use data to investigate problems and answer questions for underserved and unserved communities. At the Department of Public Health, she supported the Maternal Infant Health Assessment project, guiding health policies and programs for California women, infants and families. Results from this project were used by state and local programs, and other maternal, child, and adolescent health stakeholders to monitor health outcomes and identify emerging health issues.
Dawnté was then promoted to lead a joint research project between the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS). In this role, she led important research on the Affordable Care Act and the impact of health care services on the recidivism of individuals released from prison. Dawnté developed policy recommendations to help ensure people with behavioral health needs are not criminalized and instead are provided the health care services they need. Dawnté also led a team to learn about, plan for, and implement activities that embed racial and gender equity approaches into CDCR’s culture, policies, and practices. The resulting racial equity plan is now being successfully implemented across CDCR.