Bill > SJR431

This Joint Resolution formally acknowledges the passing of Dawn Michele Lawson, a respected federal government employee and dedicated community advocate who died on February 7, 2013. The resolution highlights her educational achievements, including degrees from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and George Mason University, and her significant 25-year career in the federal government, notably with the Department of the Army, Air Force, and the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), where she established the Department of Defense's first blanket purchase agreement for open source software and negotiated a major Microsoft license agreement. It also recognizes her extensive involvement in professional organizations like Blacks in Government and her active participation in the Democratic Party at local, state, and national levels, including serving as a Virginia state delegate at the Democratic National Conventions. Furthermore, the resolution details her dedicated service and leadership within Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., a historically Black Greek-letter sorority, and her civic engagement, such as her appointment by Governor Timothy M. Kaine to chair United Nations Day in Virginia. The resolution concludes by expressing the General Assembly's sorrow at her loss and directing the Clerk of the Senate to present a copy of the resolution to her family as a token of respect for her memory.