Pivot Points: Five Decisions Every Successful Leader Must Make

Chapter 6PASSION: Dale Dawson, Founder and CEO of Bridge2Rwanda

WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW HIM AND ABOUT HIS WORK

Dale Dawson founded Bridge2Rwanda in a career transformation that the younger, ambitious financial executive would have dismissed as implausible. Nothing in Dale’s successful 25-year career in business predicted a future in addressing poverty, and certainly not in Africa. Yet, with Bridge2Rwanda, he is hitting his stride, advancing economic development in Rwanda and reconnecting with his passion for provocative challenges while integrating work, family, and community in a way he couldn’t in his for-profit career. Dale is on the advisory council of Rwanda’s President, Paul Kagame, and on the boards of Rwanda’s largest microfinance bank, Urwego Opportunity Bank, and US-based nonprofit organizations Halftime and Edify.

In his climb to success in the for-profit world, Dale had everything he thought he wanted. He wanted the challenge of continuous learning, and his pivotal decisions propelled him forward on steep learning curves. He wanted to be a world-class professional businessperson, and his career path enabled mastery of valuable skills. He wanted financial success, and his risk taking amply rewarded him. His career started at KPMG in auditing, and an early offer to join the firm’s acclaimed tax accounting practice in Dallas launched Dale on the fast track. He made partner at 30 years old, and, two years later, became national director of the insurance practice. At age ...