MEET GABRIEL DUNN, MBA
Founding Board Member | Funding, Business Development & VA Liaison
Drug Demand Reduction Outreach Specialist | United States Department of Defense
“Strong communities are built when people choose to show up for one another. Sometimes the greatest difference we can make is simply making sure no family has to navigate a difficult journey alone.”
For Gabriel, Every Journey Matters brings together two things that have shaped his life—his commitment to public service and his personal experience loving a family member through dementia.
MEET GABRIEL DUNN
Gabriel Dunn brings extensive experience in strategic partnerships, community outreach, organizational development, stakeholder engagement, and public service to the Founding Board of Every Journey Matters.
Through his professional work as a Drug Demand Reduction Outreach Specialist with the United States Department of Defense, Gabriel has developed extensive experience building collaborative relationships that strengthen communities through education, prevention initiatives, strategic partnerships, and public service.
His work requires leadership, strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, program development, and the ability to connect organizations with valuable community and governmental resources.
Gabriel holds an MBA and graduate education through the Keller Graduate School of Management at DeVry University, further strengthening his expertise in leadership, business strategy, organizational management, and program development.
As Funding, Business Development & VA Liaison and a Founding Board Member of Every Journey Matters, Gabriel will provide strategic guidance to support the organization’s long-term growth and sustainability. His role includes helping identify potential funding opportunities, cultivating strategic partnerships, and strengthening relationships with corporations, foundations, government agencies, veterans’ organizations, and community partners.
As VA Liaison, Gabriel will also help Every Journey Matters build stronger connections with veteran communities and organizations serving veterans and their families, identifying resources, partnerships, and collaborative opportunities that may benefit seniors, veterans, caregivers, and their families.
Gabriel’s leadership and ability to build meaningful partnerships will help position Every Journey Matters for sustainable growth while expanding the resources, education, and support available to the communities we serve.
WHY I SERVE
“Dementia may change memories, but it does not erase the relationship, the love, or the person who has always been part of your life.”
Dementia is personal to me.
I have experienced this journey within my own family, walking alongside my grandmother as she lives with dementia and seeing firsthand how the disease affects not only the person living with it, but the entire family surrounding them.
My grandmother and I have always shared a close relationship. As her memory and abilities have changed, that relationship has taught me something important: connection does not have to disappear simply because memory changes.
There are still opportunities to sit together, laugh, talk, listen, share familiar moments, and simply be present. Sometimes she may remember a conversation, and sometimes she may not. But the time we spend together still has meaning.
I have also witnessed what caregiving requires from a family—the patience, sacrifices, difficult decisions, uncertainty, and love that happen quietly every day. Those experiences have given me an even greater appreciation for families who are doing everything they can to care for someone they love.
That is one of the reasons I chose to serve on the Founding Board of Every Journey Matters.
My professional career has taught me the power of bringing people and organizations together around a shared purpose. Through public service, community outreach, prevention initiatives, and strategic partnerships, I have seen what can happen when organizations stop working independently and begin connecting people with the right resources.
I want to bring that same approach to Every Journey Matters.
As Funding, Business Development & VA Liaison, I hope to help build partnerships with businesses, foundations, government agencies, veterans' organizations, and community leaders who share our commitment to serving seniors, caregivers, veterans, and families.
But for me, this mission will always be about more than partnerships, programs, or funding.
It is about people.
It is about the senior who still deserves to feel valued.
It is about the caregiver who needs someone in their corner.
It is about the family trying to navigate something they never expected.
And personally, it is about my grandmother and the relationship we continue to share.
Because even when memories change, love gives us another way to remember.
“My grandmother may not remember every conversation we share, but that doesn't make those moments any less meaningful. Dementia can change memories, but it cannot erase the love, connection, and history that make us family.”
— Gabriel Dunn, MBA
Founding Board Member | Funding, Business Development & VA Liaison
Every Journey Matters