Current Award Recipient

Dean Herman Schneider Award – Educator

Dawn Koeltzow, Illinois Central College

Dawn Koeltzow serves as Senior Director for Workforce Equity Management at Illinois Central College. She works closely with the Illinois Community College Board and the leadership at Illinois Central College to guide the success of the statewide Workforce Empowerment Initiative (WEI). The program serves historically underrepresented individuals and 20 colleges participate on the grant. To date, over 19,000 Illinoisans have received critical support services to complete high demand workforce training credentials. WEI focuses on removing barriers to student success, developing employer partners, providing career development, and offering work-based learning opportunities. Students have achieved an 89% outcomes rate for employment or transitioning to additional education. For this project, Dawn leads college consortium services, including: coaching, evaluation, advocacy, community of practice, webinars, equity trainings, consortium meetings/symposium, statewide marketing, outcomes reporting, and college site visits. To learn more about the WEI project, please visit illinoiswei.org.

Prior to her role in workforce equity, Dawn was a passionate leader for cooperative education. She served as the Director of the Springer Center for Internships at Bradley University and championed required experiential learning for students. Dawn was an active member and servant leader for associations in the field of cooperative education and internships. She served as President and Conference Chair for the national association (CEIA), regional association (MCEIA), and state association (ILCEIA) helping many colleagues to share their best practices in cooperative education. Dawn strongly believes in the power of colleagueship to improve educational institutions and to enhance personal and professional growth. She has a Master’s degree in Human Services Administration from Bradley University and a B.S. Finance from Arizona State University. She is honored to receive the CEIA’s Dean Herman Schneider Award in 2026.