Dawn Toguchi

Dawn (Meling) Toguchi has served as executive director of Open Discourse Coalition since 2021 as the organization grew from its first in-person lecture to coalescing the support of donors across the country to provide programming every week for students at Bucknell and beyond.

Dawn has been passionate about effective, persuasive communication and civil discourse since college, where she wrote for an alternative student newspaper, through her early career, when she appeared on various news outlets across central and western Pennsylvania, including KDKA, PCNC, and more. Her writing has appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Tribune-Review, RealClear Pennsylvania, and PennLive.

Prior to joining Open Discourse Coalition, Dawn spent a decade in marketing, communications, and development for the Commonwealth Foundation. Her collaboration on direct mail and marketing earned the nationwide United States Postal Service Best-Of-The-Best Direct Mail Award in 2018, in addition to other regional Reed Awards. She also applied these practices to strategic donor communication growth, increasing donor engagement, retention, and revenue.

Dawn earned her bachelor of science in business administration from Bucknell University and her master of business administration from Duquesne University while working in finance for U. S. Steel in Pittsburgh. 

The best job she's ever had--and ever will have--is mom to her two children.