Bishop Harold B. Dawson, Jr. served the Peoria community across denominational, cultural, socioeconomic and spiritual boundaries.

Beyond pastoring at New Hope International Ministries and New Life Christian Church, Dawson served central Illinoisans through a variety of organizations. Dawson served on the Board of Directors of the NAACP; Peoria Ministers Economic Development Organization (PMEDO); Catholic Charities Peoria Community Area Project; Illinois One Family-One Child Board of Directors. He served on the Morehouse University School of Medicine Imani Project board, to address HIV/AIDS in the African-American community. He served as President of the Peoria Christian Leadership Council (PCLC), a collaboration of central Illinois pastors formed to address social-economic and political concerns of the community. He also served as a Commissioner for the Wayne A. Downing Metropolitan Airport Authority.

Dawson was born and raised in Peoria. He graduated from Jackson State University and received a Masters in Divinity from Virginia Union University Samuel Dewitt Proctor School of Theology. He also studied at Lincoln Christian Seminary in Lincoln, IL and attended the distinguished Harvard Divinity School Summer Leadership Institute.