Meet Our Leadership Team

Susan Dawson is Chief Administrative Officer at Top Line Growth Partners. She helps lead the firm’s internal operations and works closely with clients, especially high-growth, private-equity-backed firms, who are scaling quickly and need leaders, teams, and systems that can keep up. 

Susan brings 20 years of experience across people operations and organizational effectiveness, including Chief People Officer/CHRO roles in three high-growth organizations. She’s at her best when leaders need to translate strategy into reality: clearer expectations, stronger leadership habits, better team dynamics, and operating rhythms that drive outcomes. Fiercely practical by nature, she helps executive teams align the “whole system” connecting strategy, structure, talent, and accountability, so the organization performs, and the top and bottom lines improve. 

Her work spans leadership development, executive effectiveness, org design, talent strategy, instructional design, and change leadership across software, telecom, healthcare, logistics, retail, and financial services. Susan leads with values, empathy, and candor and brings both grit and gratitude to the work. 

Outside of work, Susan cares deeply about investing in her community and looks for ways to support and strengthen the organizations doing good where she lives and works. 

Susan holds a bachelor’s degree from Randolph-Macon College and a master’s degree in organization development from American University. 

In her free time she enjoys playing disc golf, traveling, reading, DIY projects, and playing with her dog Hank who keeps her on her toes. 

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