Cogent Concepts and Project Management, LLC is a community relations firm specializing in political consulting, grassroots marketing and project management.  It was founded in 2010 by Dawn Chanet Collins.

Ms. Collins is a passionate community advocate which includes service as elected Vice President of East Baton Rouge Parish School Board. She has also serves as Governor John Bel Edward’s appointee to the East Baton Rouge Parish Board of Elections Supervisors. She began her professional experience at Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) where she was responsible for program-related data management. She has extensive experience with grassroots organizing and conducting in-depth interviews. In addition, she gives data-driven strategic consultation to political campaigns and handles government affairs and training programs for non-profit organizations. 

Experience

Campaign Management: Ms. Collins’ campaigning experience began as a paid Staff Field Organizer in Florida and Louisiana for the 2008 Obama Campaign. She went on to get further training with national organizations such as Democracy for America and New Organizing Institute which allowed her to manage and win several local, state, and national electoral and issue based campaigns.

Program Evaluation and Project Management: Ms. Collins recently evaluated a federal grant project on behalf of the East Baton Rouge Office of the Mayor-President. She has developed and managed data-driven projects for commercial and political campaigns on the national, state, and local levels. Her past clients include Governor John Bel Edwards, U.S. Congressman Cedric Richmond, State Representative Edward Ted James, State Representative Denise Marcelle and W.T. Winfield and Associates Engineering, among others. For the DHH, she managed the decentralization of a multi-faceted Breast and Cervical Cancer Medicaid application process for implementation in sixty field offices across the State of Louisiana. Ms. Collins utilized her strong background in data management, collection, cleaning and analyses for this project.

Policy Advocacy: Ms. Collins has provided policy advocacy services for clients including The Louisiana Food Bank Association, Coalition of Louisiana Addiction Service and Prevention Providers, and Friends of New Orleans Adolescent Hospital, among others. As part of her advocacy work, she has assisted with negotiations between clients, legislators, state agency administrators and other stakeholders. Her efforts have helped to secure $24 million in appropriations.   

Community Relations: Ms. Collins has extensive expertise in public outreach. As part of her program evaluation, project management and advocacy efforts, she has experience with data collection, cleaning and analysis; conducting in-depth interviews with a variety of stakeholders throughout Baton Rouge and in the State of Louisiana; identifying key constituents and developing outreach strategies; and coordinating grassroots letter signing campaigns regarding key policy issues. She has also developed, implemented and administered training for teams of in-home support staff to build the capacity of elderly and disabled individuals to live independently in Baton Rouge.

Education

M.P.A., Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
B.A., English Liberal Arts, Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Juris Doctorate, Southern University Law Center.