ASQ 1304 Section Member Spotlight – Dawn Newman

Dawn Newman is an Executive & Professional Coach and Organization Development Consultant

BIO:   Currently Dawn serves as Chair for the American Society for Quality (ASQ) St. Louis section and maintains ASQ CQE and CQA.

Dawn is an Executive & Professional Coach and Organization Development Consultant with a passion for Quality. She formed A New Dawn Coaching, LLC. in 2018 to focus on leadership coaching. Dawn’s multi-disciplined career includes leadership & technical roles in Organization Development, Supplier Program Management, Quality, Operations, and Human Resources. With over 15 years of leadership coaching experience, she enjoys helping leaders and teams build capabilities & accomplish results.

She has a Ph.D. in Organization Development an MBA and a Math degree.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawn-newman-6aa380/

ASQ : Why did you get certified?

Dawn: The Quality Leaders in the organization I was working in strongly supported ASQ certifications. They provided onsite certification preparation courses and rewards for certifications. That sparked a lot of interest in our division and with my peers.  I passed the CQE and then pursued the CQA. I also enjoyed helping other people become certified. Both certifications helped my career in quality and strengthened my capabilities.

ASQ : What has been the benefit of certification?

Dawn: Staying current in the quality profession and volunteering in our St. Louis section are major benefits. Since Quality applies to everything, I’ve been able to continue using what I learned through certification in each new role as my career changed.

ASQ : What do you like best about your role/field?

Dawn: What I learned about continual improvement and teams provides a strong foundation for my coaching practice.  I’ve worked with aerospace and defense organizations, universities, healthcare, financial services, government, civic, non-profit, and membership organizations. Quality brings in technical, business & people aspects that make a difference in any industry.

ASQ : What’s most valuable to you about being a member of ASQ or what do you like best about ASQ?

Dawn: From the local perspective, I appreciate the dedicated volunteer leaders, speakers and participants in our St. Louis section. From a broader view I like being able to learn from and connect with the ASQ members from around the world.

ASQ :What would you tell someone just getting started in your field/role?

Dawn: Stay open to experimenting. My first role wasn’t a great fit yet I learned a lot and worked on a great team. Challenge yourself to learn & do your best. When I explored job openings I applied for a role in Quality Process Improvement. It launched my career in a new direction. Listen with curiosity. There was so much new to learn! I’m grateful I had people with many years of experience from backgrounds very different from mine who were willing to mentor and teach me.