Executive Director
Virginia Head Start Association
Dawn Ault has been serving as the Executive Director of the Virginia Head Start Association for the past 8 years. Adopting a two-generation approach to help families break the cycle of poverty, Head Start services are aimed to empower and engage families in long term self-sustaining practices that create better homes and communities for the future. These services include health and nutrition, goal-setting, securing higher education, family asset building, early childhood education, including social-emotional development of young children. As Executive Director of VAHSA, she leads the professional development trainings and advocacy efforts to help support Head Start staff around the Commonwealth, to ensure their success with vulnerable children and families.
For twenty years prior to this role, Mrs. Ault has worked within the public school system for Henrico and Hanover Counties, as: a 4th Grade Teacher, Instructional Technology Resource Teacher, Assistant Principal, Coordinator of Federal Programs, and Head Start Director. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree, double majoring in Elementary Education and Psychology, from SUNY Oswego and a M.Ed. from VCU in Administration & Supervision PreK-12.
She lives in Ashland, VA with her husband and two teenage children. She proudly served as her daughter’s Girl Scout Leader for ten years, was an active board member for the Hanover Arts and Activities Center for several years, and is currently serving her second term on The National Head Start Association’s Board of Directors. In her free time she enjoys time with her family (and her dogs), yoga, and she often participates in a variety of community outreach activities with her son’s Boy Scout Troop, in and around Ashland.
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