Dawn Leaks Ragsdale is the founding executive director of the Center for Inclusive Growth, an independent organization established through a partnership between the City of New Haven and Yale University to help ensure the city’s economic growth creates pathways to long-term economic security for all residents.
Since launching the Center in 2024, Ragsdale has led the development of a suite of high-impact initiatives designed to incrementally dismantle systemic disparities, strengthen local economic ecosystems and create new pathways for inclusion and mobility.
The Center’s early work has focused on stabilizing local businesses, cycling capital back into the community and co-creating practical solutions alongside residents, institutions and partner organizations. This includes launching initiatives designed to dismantle procurement barriers for historically excluded vendors, provide small businesses with critical operational support, and leverage Yale School of Management’s intellectual capital to help local enterprises scale.
The Center has also become a vital convener, bringing together cross-sector leaders through an annual summit focused on economic mobility and community-rooted growth strategies. This commitment to innovative growth continues with the Center’s planned July 2026 launch of Evergreen New Haven, an Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition initiative designed to help residents build long-term wealth through the acquisition of established businesses.
Previously, Ragsdale served as executive director of Collab, where she increased the organization’s operating budget by 34%. Her background also includes serving as a visiting professor of social entrepreneurship at Hampshire College, serving as CEO of the digital media company Lioness through its successful scale and exit, and managing public affairs for the American Red Cross during the response to the 2013 Boston bombing.