Spelman College announced today that Chief Financial Officer Dawn Alston has been named the 2026 CFO of the Year in the Nonprofit, Government, and Education sector by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. The prestigious award celebrates Alston’s brilliant financial leadership, unwavering integrity, and profound dedication to the sustainability and growth of the historic institution. Alston was recognized as a finalist in last year’s awards before capturing the top honor this year.

Alston’s extraordinary career at Spelman spans nearly three decades, embodying a legacy of internal talent cultivation and institutional commitment. She first arrived at the college in 1999 as a Research Technician within the Department of Biology and Biochemistry. While preparing and managing complex scientific grants, Alston discovered a profound passion for institutional compliance. Recognizing a vital need, she built the College’s financial compliance program from the ground up, establishing rigorous protocols that forever strengthened Spelman’s institutional accountability. This pivotal achievement launched a remarkable 17-year progression through the Division of Business and Financial Affairs, ultimately elevating her to the role of Chief Financial Officer.

"This recognition by the broader Atlanta business community validates what we within the gates of Spelman have always known: Dawn Alston is an exceptional leader who pairs unmatched financial acumen with a deep love for our mission," said Rosalind "Roz" Brewer, C’84, Interim President and Chair Emerita of Spelman College. "We are a stronger, more visionary, and more secure institution because of her steady hand and brilliant mind. Her leadership ensures that our philanthropic investments are managed with the highest level of sophistication and care."

Today, Spelman is officially in Year One of a modernized and fiscally resilient operating model that Alston has masterfully executed. Under her fiscal stewardship, the institution successfully transitioned from traditional budgeting toward a future-ready, outcome-driven financial framework. Alston’s strategic vision has successfully aligned institutional resources with Spelman’s highest aspirations, focusing heavily on academic optimization, enhanced financial aid strategies, strategic endowment utilization, and the generation of creative alternative revenue streams.

Because of this renewed fiscal baseline, Spelman has collectively achieved monumental milestones to help secure its future, including:

• Infrastructure and Joint Housing: Securing vital financing for a state-of-the-art residence hall and advancing toward the groundbreaking of a historic joint housing project with Morehouse College, marking the institution's first major housing expansion in years.
• Innovation and the Arts: Realizing the magnificent opening of the 86,000-square-foot Mary Schmidt Campbell Center for Innovation and the Arts, providing students with a world-class environment to create and lead.
• Student-Centric Investment: Targeting critical technology upgrades and robust financial models aimed directly at maximizing philanthropic impact, moving the college closer to a future where its brilliant students are far less dependent upon educational loans.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle’s CFO of the Year Awards honor outstanding financial executives in the metro Atlanta area who have demonstrated unparalleled leadership, regular contributions to the community, and an unyielding commitment to their organizations' core values.