Dawn Rasmussen Volunteer Opportunities in Oregon’s 2nd District

Rooted in Oregon by choice

Dawn was not born in Oregon — she chose Oregon. After growing up in working-class communities across the South and Midwest, she came to the state in 1985 to attend Pacific University in Forest Grove and built a life here.

At Pacific, she earned a degree in Communications with a minor in Psychology, helped restart the university’s speech and debate team, and served on student council. Those early experiences helped shape her belief that respectful dialogue, civic engagement, and shared purpose still matter.

A professional background built around people

Dawn began her career in media at Portland’s ABC affiliate, KATU, where she worked on an Emmy Award-winning educational program. She later built a career in Oregon travel, tourism, and community promotion, helping highlight the places, businesses, and local character that make the state strong.

For the past 18 years, she has run her own résumé-writing business, helping people from many backgrounds pursue opportunity, stability, and meaningful work. Listening to those stories gave her a close view of how jobs, education, health care, and federal policy affect everyday life.

Career highlights

• Worked in television and educational media at Portland’s ABC affiliate, KATU.
• Served in Oregon tourism and destination promotion roles that supported local economies and small businesses.
• Received recognition for volunteer tourism leadership and community promotion work.
• Built and sustained an independent résumé-writing business over nearly two decades.

What that experience means in public office

Dawn brings a communicator’s discipline, a small business owner’s practicality, and a community advocate’s perspective. She understands how policy touches jobs, housing, health care, education, and the everyday costs families carry.

That is the lens she brings to public life: not ideology for ideology’s sake, but a focus on whether government is actually helping people live, work, and plan for the future with dignity.

Connected to the district

Oregon’s 2nd District is defined by resilient communities, long distances, local pride, and people who know how to take care of each other through difficult seasons. Dawn sees that spirit not as a campaign slogan, but as a lived reality.

From wildfire seasons and economic pressure to the day-to-day concerns of families, workers, seniors, veterans, and small towns, she believes the district deserves a representative who understands what is at stake and takes that responsibility seriously.

The kind of politics she believes in

Dawn believes leadership should lower the temperature, not raise it. It should create trust instead of cynicism, and it should be rooted in accountability rather than performance.

She is running to represent people who want decency, common sense, and a stronger connection between voters and the people elected to serve them.