Rising Star Reflections – Dawn Taylor
Dawn Taylor was honored as a Rising Star, Class of 2014. She has spent her career in the non-profit sector, including 17 years in fundraising roles at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. Dawn is an 11-year volunteer at Operation Breakthrough and a past board member of Quixotic Fusion and Kansas City Artists Coalition. She has traveled twice to Uganda with Change the Truth, which supports St. Mary Kevin Orphanage in Kajjansi, Uganda. Dawn and Christina Eldridge launched Red Dirt in 2013. Red Dirt’s non-profit partner, water.org, receives a portion from every Red Dirt product sale to support their work around the world, providing clean, safe water to communities that are often forgotten or neglected.
Also featured in the May 17th issue of The Independent
![]() |
Dawn Taylor and Christina Eldridge |
Features

The Midland Theatre will be the site for Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault’s (MOCSA’s) 20th annual Night Out with MOCSA Cocktail Party and Auction on October 19th. The event…

Kersti Azar recently moved from Chicago to Kansas City and immediately started making an impact in MOCSA’s hospital advocacy program. She completed 40 hours of training and has provided more…

Laura Palacios is a woman who gets things done. In her words, she “means business” when it comes to the causes she champions. Renowned for her support of literacy, diversity…