Dawn M. Hunter, JD, MPH is a Deputy Director with the Network’s Southeastern Region.  Prior to joining the Network, she served in a variety of roles focused on public health, policy, and health equity.  Dawn has worked in state public health at the New Mexico Department of Health, where she started as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Visiting Attorney in Public Health Law through the Network.  She also served as Director of Health Equity, Policy Director, and Deputy Cabinet Secretary.  During her tenure, she led a variety of initiatives to address health system innovation, and some of her core responsibilities included managing the Department’s legislative and policy activities as well as strategic planning, performance management, and public health accreditation.

Dawn started her career in child protective services in Hillsborough County, Florida.  She later transitioned into research and development as a microbiologist at the University of South Florida, Center for Biological Defense, with a focus on rapid detection methods for food and waterborne pathogens.  Dawn is Certified in Public Health by the National Board of Public Health Examiners. She received her A.B. in English Literature from Princeton University, her B.S. in Microbiology and her M.P.H. in Global Communicable Disease from the University of South Florida, and her J.D. from Stetson University College of Law.

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