DC United announced today the hiring of Dawn Ridley as the club's Vice President of Business Development. In her role, Ridley will oversee sponsorship sales activities as well as business development ventures.

Ridley brings with her extensive regional and national sales and corporate partnership development experience.

"We have great respect for Dawn's prior professional achievements, as she has earned a tremendous reputation throughout her career," said United President and CEO Kevin Payne. "We're proud to welcome her to the club and look forward to her future contributions to the front office."

Ridley has served as Director, Corporate Partnerships for National Geographic Society where she led the development of internal and external partnerships and long-term corporate strategy for Mission Programs, which encompasses the non-profit activities of National Geographic Society. Ridley developed integrated partner programs to maximize National Geographic Society opportunities across all platforms and customized programs to achieve multiple business objectives, including access to exclusive content, brand awareness, prospecting, relationship building, and research innovation.

Ridley is also the founder and President of Ridley & Associates LLC, a consulting firm specializing in marketing, branding, licensing and business development. Ridley's expertise includes developing and implementing marketing and brand strategies for various properties. Ridley has also provided sponsorship strategy, sales and activation services for key clients, including the Super Bowl Gospel Celebration, Dominique Dawes LLC, GameWear, Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC), Ken Harvey and JAKA Consulting.