About

About Dawn Winalski (she/her)

An experienced attorney, advocate, fundraiser, and community leader.

Advocacy: As an Attorney, Dawn Winalski has over a decade of experience advocating for and on behalf of Tribes, Tribal organizations, Indigenous communities, Alaska Native organizations, municipal governments and non-profits. She has tackled novel issues of self-governance, environmental law, human rights, food security, Indigenous sovereignty, elections and more. She has drafted and submitted comments on federal agency actions, handled large projects (including NEPA reviews), reviewed contracts, wrote internal policies and participated in litigation.

Non-Profits and Fundraising: Dawn Winalski got her start in fundraising as a student caller for the University of Rhode Island Alumni Fund and never looked back. Her work includes targeted fundraising for non-profits, candidates and ballot measures. She has written grant proposals for small start-up non-profits and assisted with renewals of large federal awards. She has served on Boards, advised Boards, written and reviewed policies, planned events, and much more. 

She loves to travel, run, coach lacrosse and watching college sports. In 2024, she ran the Portland Marathon with Go The Distance. She has also hiked Hang Song Doong, the World’s Largest Cave.

Key Employment and Leadership Roles

• Assistant Borough Attorney, in Utqiagvik, AK, for the North Slope Borough
• Attorney (“Of Counsel”) at Hobbs, Straus, Dean, and Walker, LLP serving Tribes and Tribal organizations
• Attorney/Consultant at Winalski Law LLC
• Attorney-Advisor, U.S. Department of Interior Solicitor’s Office
• Judicial Clerk, Multnomah County Circuit Court
• Oregon State Bar Indian Law Section – Chair (2025) and other roles
• Vice Chair, ABA Section on Environment, Energy, and Resources, Indigenous Law Committee (2018-2022)
• Member, Oregon State Bar
• Member, Alaska Bar Association

Education

• J.D., University of Oregon School of Law, Order of the Coif
• B.S. University of Rhode Island, Environmental Science and Management

Lightning and Kodiak

These two cats love to “help”.

They are also avid sports fans. They like to go after the ball on the screen as they cheer on the UConn Huskies, Oregon Ducks, Rhody Rams and Portland Thorns.