Women Athletes
Business Network
Mentoring Program
Dawna Callahan
Dawna Callahan is currently serving as the Community Relations Specialist with the Colorado Lottery
where to date Lottery revenues have provided $2.7 billion in funding for parks, recreation, open space
acquisition, trails and conservation education throughout the state. In addition, she is principal for DND
Consulting, LLC, assisting adaptive sport organizations with program development and operations as well
as strategic initiatives. Prior to joining the Lottery, Callahan was the Manager of Sport Outreach and
Development with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), Paralympic Division where she played a
vital role in growing and developing the Paralympic Movement across the U.S. While at the USOC she also
helped create and establish the Paralympic Military Program introducing recently injured service
members to adaptive sport.
Callahan is extremely passionate about, and a strong advocate for developing adaptive sport initiatives
across the country. She gave up a lucrative career in human resources in Silicon Valley where she grew up
to become an award-winning community leader in the Denver Metro area. She’s successfully led two
Colorado chambers of commerce as Executive Director. Callahan was recognized for her community
leadership success by the Denver Business Journal (40 Under 40 Award), a finalist for the 9News (Denver
NBC Affiliate) Leader of the Year and completed the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Institute for
Organization Management. As a business professional, she also successfully pursued competitive
wheelchair racing having placed 5th in the Boston Marathon in 2010, 1st in Grandma’s Marathon (2010)
and Colorado Colfax Marathon (2008). She’s had multiple top finishes in both the Bolder Boulder and
Gasparilla 15k.
Giving back to the sport community is a priority for Callahan who holds various volunteer leadership
positions with the Metro Denver Sports Commission, Disabled Sports USA, Vail Veterans Program and
Wheelchair and Ambulatory Sports USA. She completed her Master’s Degree in Recreation Management
from San Jose State while also completing graduate studies in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from
San Francisco State. Callahan’s diverse experience as a professional in the corporate and nonprofit world,
community leadership, formal education and athletic success all put her in a unique position to become a
successful business leader. Her ultimate goal is to create more opportunities for youth and adults across
the country to experience the power of sport through local sport development initiatives.