This February, during Black History Month, we are highlighting 4 amazing Community Superstars. These incredible people are local Black leaders in North Carolina who have been doing amazing work in their communities!
This week our Community Superstar is Dr. Dawn Baldwin Gibson! Dr. Dawn has served her community in amazing ways, especially around health and wholeness.
Dr. Dawn Baldwin Gibson is the Executive Pastor of Peletah Ministries. She and her husband, Pastor Anthony Gibson co-founded Peletah in 2011. She serves as Executive Director of the Peletah Institute for Building Resilient Communities and Superintendent of Peletah Academic Center for Excellence, a culturally competent trauma informed PK-12 private school. She also works in support of the New Bern Post which Peletah acquired in 2021.
She completed her Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies with a concentration in English, Sociology, and Criminal Justice from Shaw University and her Master of Arts in English with a concentration in Technical and Professional Communications from East Carolina University. She has completed higher education administration doctoral coursework at George Washington University and Nova Southeastern University. She earned her doctorate in Christian Counseling with an emphasis on working with children experiencing complex trauma from Christian Leadership University.
Dr. Dawn is a member of the North Carolina Faith and Justice Alliance Steering Committee. In 2021, she served as Co-Chair of the NC Inclusive Disaster Recovery Network’s African American Council. She is a former chair of the Emotional and Spiritual Care Task Force and former state board member for the North Carolina Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD).
She has authored and/or assisted with grants totaling more than 3 million dollars for community resiliency and Hurricane Relief/Recovery programs. Peletah Ministries has fed more than 300,000 people through partnerships with food banks, food hubs, and the USDA.
Dr. Dawn published her first book entitled, A Place Called Home, which chronicles nearly 250 years of her family’s history in Eastern NC. Her awards include being the 2017 NAACP Craven County Woman of the Year, 2016 Wonder Woman Recognition, 1 in 5 women in New Bern Making History- Sun Journal Newspaper Publication: MY New Bern Magazine and 2015 NAACP Craven County Humanitarian Award.
In 2020, she was appointed by NC Governor Roy Cooper to serve on the Board of Trustees at Pamlico Community College.
Dr. Dawn is the wife of Pastor Anthony Gibson. The mother of three children Spencer (Malika), Kaitlyn, and Hannah (deceased). She is the grandmother of Phillip and Isaac.
We, at the Council, are honored to spotlight Dr. Dawn during Black History Month. Thank you Dr. Dawn Baldwin Gibson for your continued activism!
