The Downtown Raleigh Ambassadors serve to ensure a memorable and welcoming experience for those in our capital city. Each month, one of our Ambassadors is awarded Ambassador of the Month for exemplary service in community engagement and/or safety assistance. For April, the award went to Dana Klonowski. Learn about her experience as an Ambassador and what she loves about Downtown Raleigh.
DRA: Has there been a particularly rewarding moment and/or memorable experience over this past year?
DK: I believe the most rewarding moment or experience is just the relationships you build with the community members and the business owners on the field. I have certain community members who ask my coworkers about me or to send me their way. It makes me look forward to my work day.
DRA: What have you enjoyed seeing downtown recently?
DK: I enjoy seeing more foot traffic around downtown as it gets warmer outside. I also enjoy seeing the weekend events downtown like Moore Square Market, Meals on Wheels and Dine Out.
DRA: What are you looking forward to in the next six months, the next 12 months?
DK: I am not from Raleigh or North Carolina, so I look forward to seeing how downtown celebrates the summertime and the winter holidays.
DRA: How would you describe Downtown Raleigh?
DK: Not being from NC, Downtown Raleigh is wonderful in my opinion. It's clean, safer than most cities, and there's always something to do. There's beautiful scenery and you meet very interesting people. I like that there's a good mix of people from Raleigh, the rest of the US and even the world. There's tons of places to eat as well. You'll definitely find a place to fulfill that certain craving you have. You might even find a new favorite, I know I did.
DRA: What's your favorite part of what you do?
DK: In relation to question one, my favorite part of what I do is making a difference in someone's life or day. Whether I was just an ear for them to vent to or I helped them find their next meal. No matter how big or small that gesture was to them, it's always super rewarding to me to be that impact in someone's life.