By Bob Allen
Cindy Dawson will step down Oct. 31 after eight years as executive director of Global Women, a woman-to-woman missions organization based in Birmingham, Ala., with international partnerships addressing sex trafficking, clean water, maternal health, education and economic development.
Dawson, a former Cooperative Baptist Fellowship missionary to Russia who took the helm of Global Women in 2006, said Sept. 15 she has been praying for several years “that God would help me know when I have led the organization as far as I can.”
“Though this has been a difficult decision for me, I believe that time has come,” Dawson said. “I am extremely proud of how far we have come in these eight years, and trust this is God’s perfect timing for Global Women to reconfirm her vision and determine next steps as she seeks a new leader with additional skills and a fresh passion that can lead her forward.”
Kristin Rogers, president of the Global Women board of directors, said in a letter that Dawson “has been a treasured leader” of the organization founded in 2001 as “a catalyst for positive change on behalf of vulnerable women.”
Currently Global Women works in global partnerships to address sex-trafficking prevention and restoration in Moldova and Central Asia, clean water and education in Zambia, maternal health in Haiti and economic development in Nepal, Myanmar, Central Asia and Uganda.
Dawson, originally from Cleveland, Tenn., said she and her husband have talked for some time about her desire to live closer to her family. Since her father’s death last month, she said her desire to be closer to her mother is even stronger. She hopes to relocate to Tennessee by the end of the year.
The Global Women board of directors will discuss filling the vacancy when they hold their annual meeting Sept. 26-27. Rogers, minister to children and families and administrative associate at First Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, said, “When we speak of Global Women, Cindy is so often the face that we see.”
“Cindy has helped us to see ways that Global Women can grow into a vibrant, healthy young organization that gives women a chance to see God work in their lives,” Rogers said. “She will be missed.”
Global Women was founded in December 2001 as a way for Christian women to network and mentor younger women through “shared learning and service.” Organizers included former national leaders of Woman’s Missionary Union, auxiliary to the Southern Baptist Convention, and Suzanah Raffield, the founding executive director, who resigned in 2005.
During her career as a missionary, Dawson and her husband, Frank, served with a Romany ministry team for eight years in Moscow. They coordinated work among the Roma people — also known as Gypsies — living across the former Soviet Union. Over the years she has traveled to 40 different countries, both serving and learning from the women she met.
“I only wish the best for Global Women, and I invite all to pray with me as the board and staff gather for our annual meeting at the end of this month,” Dawson said. “In addition to decisions concerning steps of finding a new director, I am confident that Global Women’s work will continue to focus on the women and the projects we have opportunity to support in the coming year. What a tremendous privilege and task!”