Lifeline Executive Director Receives Young Professionals Award by Cleveland Professional
20/30 Club

March 31, 2015
PAINESVILLE, Ohio— The Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club, the largest and longest-running young professional group in Northeast Ohio, announces the recipients of the 2015 Northeast Ohio Top 25 Under 35 Movers & Shakers Awards. The Awards recognize 25 young leaders under 35 years of age that have a record of excellence in their work, civic engagement and philanthropic efforts. These individuals give selflessly for their community, are involved in working with local non-profits as volunteers or Board Members or are up-and-coming leaders in their community or place of business.

One of the young professionals chosen to receive a Top 25 Under 35 Movers & Shakers Awards was Lifeline Executive Director, Carrie Dotson. Born & raised in Lake County, Dotson graduated from T.W. Harvey High School. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree with majors in Journalism and Public Communications from Ashland University and an MBA from Lake Erie College. Her first job was with the Lake County YMCA, teaching leadership training. Next, she accepted a position with Lifeline, Inc., the Community Action Agency in Lake County. She has served in three different capacities with Lifeline, eventually being named Executive Director of the agency in 2004. Since her appointment as Executive Director at Lifeline, Inc., Dotson has helped to grow the agency from a small organization of three staff and a $300,000 budget, to what it is today—a multi-faceted agency with 22 staff and a budget of nearly $2 million.

Professionally, Dotson is active with the Director’s Councils of both the Lake County ADAMHS Board and the United Way of Lake County. She is involved with the Lake County Continuum of Care and the Lake County Housing Coalition, both entities which deal with housing and homelessness issues in Lake County. She also serves on the local Workforce Investment Board and the Senior Advisory Committee for Lake County. She was recently appointed by the Lake County Commissioners to serve on the Northeast Ohio Area Wide Coordinating Agency’s Community Advisory Board. She serves on the events committee for the political action committee, Friends of Lake ADAMHS, which raises funds and awareness for mental health and addiction services. At the state level, she sits on the statewide Ohio AIRS Board of Directors, the governing body for information and referral hotlines across the state.

Dotson has been a member of the Western Reserve Junior Service League since 2008. WRJSL is a volunteer organization that raises funds and volunteers at a variety of non-profit agencies in the Lake/Geauga/Ashtabula tri-county area. Throughout her membership, she has served as Admissions Committee Chair, Ways & Means Committee Chair, Historian, Recording Secretary and has chaired several fundraisers, including Night at the Races, the Candlelight Charity Ball and the Red Stocking Revue.

Dotson is a 2004 graduate of the Community Action Leadership Academy, a statewide leadership training program for Community Action Professionals and a 2007 graduate of Leadership Lake County, our local leadership training program, of which she is still active as an alumni member.

Within the community, she has served on the Painesville City Parks & Recreation Commission since being appointed by City Council in 2007 and is currently serving as President. This group assists city officials to design and plan for new community parks, develop and implement recreation activities within the city and raise funds to help make them affordable to all residents. She was also a member of the Painesville City Charter Review Committee 2013-14 and was elected to represent her ward on the Lake County Democratic Central Committee in 2014.

“It was such a surprise and so humbling to receive this award,” said Dotson. “I’ve just always really believed in paying it forward and giving back to the community that I live and work in. I’ve learned so much from those I’ve surrounded myself with, including colleagues and Board members, friends and family. I realize that I’m very fortunate to have the education and experiences that I do, so my job and my volunteer activities are an important way for me to give back.”

The 2015 honorees were recognized at an awards ceremony on March 13, 2015, at The Global Center for Health Innovation. The event included a dynamic keynote address by Chris Kelly, Partner-in-Charge of Jones Day’s Cleveland Office. Lifeline Board Members Rita McMahon, Pam Morse (president) and Joe Weber (vicepresident) attended the ceremony with Dotson.

The Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club is the largest and longest-running young professional association in Northeast Ohio. Through their mission and vision, they provide young professionals opportunities to connect and grow through social, networking, educational, and philanthropic initiatives. For more information about the 20/30 Club, visit www.cleveland2030.org.

Lifeline for the Empowerment and Development of Consumers was founded in 1973 with the mission of helping Lake County residents by providing them assistance and life skills programming that is designed to increase self-sufficiency. In 1980 Lifeline became a participating agency of the United Way of Lake County, UWLC, and in 1987 was designated a community action agency by the Ohio Development Services Agency, ODSA. In 2008, Lifeline was designated as a mental health agency by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

Today Lifeline continues with the same mission of helping Lake County’s low-income residents break the cycle of poverty and make the transition from agency-dependency to self-sufficiency. Lifeline’s current programming includes services in the healthcare, housing & energy assistance, information & referral services and consumer education & job training areas. Our motto is ‘helping people, changing lives.’ Lifeline is currently funded by the UWLC and by grants through the ODSA, the Lake County Board of Commissioners, the Lake County ADAMHS Board, Lake County Department of Job & Family Services, the City of Mentor, the Western Reserve Junior Service League and through private donors.