OUR TEAM

Creative gifts.
A shared calling.

DAWN brings together people who believe that stories, music, and art can awaken imagination, deepen faith, and help generations find their place within God’s Great Romance.

Our beginnings draw upon two complementary callings: creating the works themselves and helping shape the cultural vision they serve. As the work develops, we look forward to welcoming other creative collaborators.

FOUNDER, VISIONARY LEADER, AUTHOR & SONGWRITER

Vidar Lee
Byberg

Vidar is the originating author and songwriter behind most of DAWN’s developing books and songs. His creative work grows from a lifelong concern for what one generation receives, what it builds, and what it passes forward. Through narrative, lyrics, and musical storytelling, he seeks to help people recognize their lives within God’s larger story of creation, redemption, and Home.

His earlier creative work includes a twelve-song album produced in 2009 around the theme “For Love of Liberty and Country.” Three years later, he authored the book The Builders of the Land. He also founded a community choir of approximately 200 voices, bringing people together through concerts in Western Minnesota. The final celebration drew approximately 2,000 attendees, revealing something that continues to shape DAWN: music can gather people around faith, gratitude, and an inheritance worth sharing.

Vidar Lee Byberg brings more than thirty years of leadership experience across energy, agriculture, technology, and education. His career spans public and private companies and nonprofit organizations, with work in the United States and internationally encompassing economic analysis, business development, entrepreneurship, and organizational leadership.

Alongside that professional journey, Vidar has pursued a lifelong interest in faith, human flourishing, music, and storytelling. Through DAWN, he brings these interests together in books, songs, and artistic collaborations exploring beauty, goodness, truth, and the inheritance we pass to future generations. His hope is to make room for other artists whose gifts can carry the story farther.

Explore the Founder’s Notes →

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Dr. John
Seel

Dr. David John Seel, Jr. is a writer, educator, and cultural analyst whose work explores how faith shapes imagination, meaning, and cultural life. His background includes serving as director of cultural engagement at the John Templeton Foundation. Raised in South Korea as the son of medical missionaries, he brings an international perspective and an interdisciplinary grounding in business, history, philosophy, theology, and American Studies.

A story large enough to live for

John’s participation in DAWN reflects a conviction that a generation searching for belonging, purpose, and hope needs opportunities to encounter the Christian Story through imagination, relationship, and lived experience. Beauty can awaken attention; a song or story can give language to an unnamed longing; conversation can carry that awakening into deeper understanding and faith. His contribution helps shape DAWN around this purpose: encouraging artists, connecting generations, and helping people discover in Jesus Christ a Story large enough to live for.

Discover why it matters →