Jennifer Dotson,
Executive Director
Jennifer Dotson, Co-Founder & Executive Director, is a social entrepreneur dedicated to transforming the
media culture surrounding young women. Alive Arts Media, Inc., is a non-profit organization that exists to
empower young women in their creative, educational, and professional pursuits. Utilizing mentorship at
every level of its business model, AAM provides pre-professional training to young women through a
high-level internship program, challenges media’s depiction of women through Picturing Everyday Beauty: a
project to add insight to the viewfinder, and showcases the stories and artwork of real women across the
globe in the publication of Alive Magazine.
With degrees from St. Olaf College in Music and Communication of Faith, Ms. Dotson honed her skills for
entrepreneurship through the creation of the latter degree, an interdepartmental course sequence through
the Center for Integrative Studies. Since her volunteer work with AAM began in 2004, Ms. Dotson has
completed a certificate program in non-profit management through Hamline University (completed in 2007).
After re-crafting Alive's business plan to reflect an enterprising nonprofit structure, she transitioned to
full-time work in May of 2007 as the first paid staff member of Alive Arts Media.
Under her leadership, the organization nearly doubled its annual budget and expanded in Spring of 2008 to
a larger office located in NE Minneapolis with triple the staffing capability for their internship program,
increased production to a bi-monthly schedule, and over quintupled readership in the last year.
Her inspiration for Alive Arts Media springs from nearly a decade of experience in the arts and nonprofit
work. Her experience working with girls ranges from coaching high school volleyball to coordinating college
mentorship programs, camp counseling to career counseling. An avid volleyball and tennis player, outdoors
enthusiast and marathon runner, Ms. Dotson funnels her ambition into helping other young women realize
their full potential.
Ms. Dotson shares her experience with companies in various industries as an active consultant in the areas of
social consciousness in marketing aimed at youth, intergenerational communication in the workplace,
graphic design and corporate branding, and organizational development. A tireless advocate for social
justice and the potential of girls and women, she speaks by invitation to diverse audiences on social change,
media literacy & civic engagement, youth activism, and girls and women in leadership.
Ms. Dotson serves as co-chair of media and marketing
for the Girls Coalition of Minnesota’s Annual Conference on Adolescent Females, and is a member of Free
Press, the Forté Foundation, the Association for Women in Communications,
and the Greater Twin Cities United Way Emerging Leaders Program.