Alyssa Harvey Dawson

Alyssa Harvey Dawson joined Gusto as its first Chief Legal Officer in August 2020. She brings over 20 years of broad-based legal experience overseeing corporate governance, commercial transactions, compliance, risk, data privacy, intellectual property, immigration and governmental matters. At Gusto, Alyssa is on the executive leadership team and oversees the company’s legal and compliance teams, partnering with the business to incorporate forward-thinking legal, risk and compliance strategies that enable the company to serve the needs of its small business customers and their employees.

Before joining Gusto, Alyssa was General Counsel, Head of Legal, Privacy and Data Governance at Sidewalk labs, where, among other things, she was responsible for developing the legal team and strategy, including creating and implementing its Responsible Data Use principles and policy. Prior to Sidewalk Labs, Alyssa held positions with Harman International and Netflix where she built new processes from the ground up including how to license, design, and market new products.

Alyssa received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism from Michigan State University and Juris Doctorate Degree from Georgetown University Law Center. She serves on the Advisory Board of Quello Center, Alumni Board of Michigan State University Honors College, and is a Member of Aspen Institute’s Tech Executive Leadership Institute.