Leadership Alum Daly-Mack Says Homegrown Leaders Spurs Growth, New Directions
Dawn Daly-Mack is on the move in Northeastern North Carolina.
Monday through Friday, she’s working as a care management manager for Carolina Complete Health, helping coordinate medical care for hundreds of clients across North Carolina. On Saturdays, the Northampton County nurse may be at a blood drive all day or leading CPR and defibrillator training through her own organization, Double-D Health and Safety.
Come Sunday, Daly-Mack is at Cool Springs Missionary Baptist Church in Gaston where she’s an associate pastor.
“Community takes care of community,” she says. That strong belief plays into her personal and professional outreach.
“Part of being the care manager is knowing the community resources out there that can help your members. One of the pillars of our health plan is we work alongside other community groups,” Daly-Mack says. “Insurance is not going to cover everything.”
For example, she connects clients with a new pilot program that provides food for people who have a Medicaid plan.
Daly-Mack is almost a community unto herself. Last year, she was elected the first woman president of the Northampton County NAACP. At about the same time, she completed a trauma and resilience certification program from Florida State University so she could better serve others.
She’s concerned that the sense of connection has subsided in Northampton County since things seemed to normalize after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I can honestly say we say we had more of that during COVID. People had to reach out to help each other. Then when people thought it was all over they went back to their silos,” she says. “We have to point that out to people and say we still have a lot of needs in our community. I’m hopeful it’s getting better.”
As a graduate of the Rural Center’s Homegrown Leaders program in 2020, Daly-Mack has developed a good network of leaders for sharing goals, ideas and solutions. Homegrown Leaders is a three-day regional leadership and community economic development training that equips existing and emerging leaders with the skills to lead long-term economic advancement in their community and region.
The Rural Center has trained more than 1,500 leaders through Homegrown Leaders and its flagship Rural Economic Development Institute program. Daly-Mack delivered the keynote address at the graduation for the 2023 REDI class, telling them, “Rural leadership is not about holding a title or position of authority. It is about understanding the needs of your community, embracing the diversity therein, and empowering those around you.”
Daly-Mack embodies that ideal and also believes that Homegrown Leaders not only builds emerging leaders, but also validates those already on the leadership path.
“Part of being the care manager is knowing the community resources out there that can help your members. One of the pillars of our health plan is we work alongside other community groups…Insurance is not going to cover everything.”
Dawn Daly-Mack
“I love programs like this. When people go through them, they are leaders already in their own right, but going through (Homegrown Leaders) reinforced that,” she says.
“A lot of leaders have imposter syndrome. They think: ‘Am I really doing what I’m supposed to be doing?’” Daly-Mack adds. “Then many have gone on to do more things than they thought they were going to do after this.”
Case in point — her fellow graduate Victoria Newcombe went on to become mayor of Rich Square in 2023 after finishing Homegrown Leaders.
The leadership program also spurred Daly-Mack to pursue new paths. “I was not the branch president of the NAACP yet,” she says.
When she was asked by the retiring president to run for the position, Daly-Mack pointed to several vice presidents.
“He said, ‘We think it’s time for a woman and we want that woman to be you,’” she recounts.
She made a professional change after the leadership program as well.
“I was still working and trying to be involved in the community in bigger ways than that job afforded me,” Daly-Mack recalls. By taking a new remote job last year, she has less travel time for work and more time for other projects.
“I’m not punching a clock,” she says. “I got a job that allowed me more time to spend with community.”
“Rural leadership is not about holding a title or position of authority. It is about understanding the needs of your community, embracing the diversity therein, and empowering those around you.”
