With more than 20 years of experience in communications and public relations, Dawn Ezekiel Ray has built integrated communications strategies for some of the world’s most well-known brands in the hospitality, real estate, transportation and healthcare industries.
Most recently, Dawn served as Senior Vice President at Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW) where she was the primary senior account lead for the FedEx Global Media Go-to-Market integrated communications strategies. She directed a multi-office team to develop, pitch and implement earned media campaigns for FedEx Diversity & Inclusion, Workplace, Small Business, E-commerce and Peak holiday season to solidify the company’s leadership position in transportation, logistics, e-commerce and innovation.
Additionally, she worked with the U.S. Navy Recruiting Command and the 2020 U.S. Census.
During her tenure at Hilton, she led brand communications and public relations campaigns for several award-winning brands including Embassy Suites, Homewood Suites by Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn and launched two of the most successful hotel brands in the company’s 100-year history, Curio Collection and Canopy by Hilton. She also directed global development and PR strategies to support the hotel giant’s entry into new markets, as well as new innovations and multi-brand initiatives. At Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, one of the largest non-profit healthcare systems in the U.S., she created the healthcare system’s first integrated strategic communications plan and helped lead the organization to its first-ever ranking by Great Place to Work “Top Work Places in Health Care,” “Best Place to Retire From” and “Top 100 Best Work Places for Women,” as featured in Fortune.
She also served as Vice President of Corporate Communications and Marketing at Greystar Real Estate Partners (formerly EdR Collegiate Housing) where she was responsible for leading all internal and external communications strategies at one of the largest owners, developers and managers of purpose-built collegiate student housing.
Dawn has been honored as a Top Women in PR by PR News and has received both a Silver Anvil and a Bronze Anvil for public relations strategy work at Hilton. She holds a Master of Arts in Journalism and Public Relations Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from The University of Memphis. She is a passionate baseball mom, an avid college basketball fan and lives in Memphis with her husband, Tom, and their two very busy and athletic boys, Tripp (19) and Zane (14.)
