Dawn Moore Discusses Investing Nearly $800M In Black And Minority Businesses And Gov. Wes Moore’s Focus On ‘Pathways To Work, Wages, And Wealth’

Maryland First Lady Dawn Moore is committed to providing opportunities to her constituents.
Dawn is the daughter of two civil servants. Her mother was a teacher, her father a union member who worked in construction. Additionally, her grandfather served in the military before joining the union in retirement and helping to build the World Trade Center. Through her family’s example, she learned the importance of community involvement.
“I would go to vote with my family. They would take me with them to the voting booths. And then when I went to college, I knew all I wanted to do was be involved in service,” Dawn said during an interview held during the AFROTECH™ Conference 2025.
“And so I restarted the NAACP on campus. When I graduated, I called one of my professors and I said, ‘Do you know any jobs in service?’ And he directed me to the office of the Secretary of State for the state of Maryland. That’s where my service began as a community organizer and a community relations representative. And I went on to run some campaigns,” she continued.
“And then when my husband told me he wanted to run for governor, I feel very proud to be one of the architects of his campaign,” she added.
Dawn has over two decades of experience in government relations, nonprofit work, building corporate partnerships, community organizing, campaign strategy, and fundraising. She now serves as First Lady of the state of Maryland, committed to the Office of the Governor — led by husband Wes Moore — Maryland’s first Black governor.
She says the office’s collective mission is to ensure no Marylander gets left behind, a mantra that originated from Mayor Moore’s military training. This guiding principle has informed the office’s policies. Recently, the governor’s office announced the deployment of $62 million in state funding to ensure Marylanders will receive SNAP benefits in November amid the second-longest government shutdown in U.S. history, according to a press release.
“This is leadership with empathy and compassion. And understand that the promise that he made to leave no one behind, he’s going to live out that promise through the policies and the work that he is doing,” she expressed.
Preakness Festival
Dawn Moore’s platform focuses on women’s economic empowerment, children’s mental health, arts and culture, and military families. This has led to efforts that include an annual luncheon to champion women trailblazers in various sectors, such as technology and healthcare.
She also launched the Preakness Festival, alongside Governor Wes, Baltimore City Mayor Brandon M. Scott, and the Sport & Entertainment Corporation of Maryland, according to a press release.

Preakness Stakes is the historic annual horse race in Baltimore that is part of the Triple Crown series of horse races, which includes the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, notes the race’s website. Dawn told Wes when he was the governor-elect that she felt the Preakness Stakes could be improved and expanded on, with an intentional mission to provide Marylanders with economic opportunity. A news release mentioned that the equine industry contributes nearly 28,000 jobs and $3 billion in economic impact in the state.
In May, Preakness Festival launched alongside the race and tapped various Black-owned businesses to produce it. It had an economic impact of $40 million, and Dawn set an ambitious goal of scaling to $400 million, she told AFROTECH™.
“We were intentional, like AFROTECH™ is, about seeking out vendors who could cater, who could produce the individual events that we had taking place,” she explained.
“We worked with our community to find out who were the best people to be able to produce a cultural event, an event that was going to create significant economic impact for Marylanders … We raised about $1.2 million in corporate sponsorship, and it was a huge success. We brought in about 15,000 new people for this event and we’re looking to continue to grow,” she continued.
Investing In Technology Businesses
Moore also shed light on Maryland’s efforts to bolster technology. At the Governor’s house she hosted at a panel with youth to discuss technology and its effects, both good and challenging, on their lives. Additionally, the state supports innovation through business investments via the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO).
“I am proud that we make significant investment into technology businesses. I would say through TEDCO. We do about $18 to $25 million a year in procurement. We have invested about $800 million in minority- and Black-owned businesses. There is so much space and opportunity with what we’re doing. And we are leading. We have a governor that cares deeply about creating pathways to work, wages, and wealth. We have great leaders on the city and the county level,” she shared
“We hope that AFROTECH™ will come to Maryland and we can get some activations going,” she continued.
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