WASHINGTON, D.C. -- [movieperson id="166719"]Rosario Dawson[/movieperson] is in some elite company. The "Seven Pounds" actress has met President-elect Barack Obama not once, but several times.

"I met him a few years ago in his office when he was still Senator Obama," she said Sunday night, as she began her walk down the red carpet at the Latino Inaugural Gala at Union Station. Co-sponsored by Voto Latino, the youth empowerment organization she co-founded, the gala -- which featured a night-closing set from Marc Anthony, who was introduced by wife Jennifer Lopez -- capped a day in which Dawson said she was awed once again by the incoming president's ability to move Americans of all stripes.

"It was really great seeing him today at the Lincoln Memorial [during the [article id="1602997"]"We Are One" concert[/article]," she said. "It was just remarkable to be there with him and all those other people and feel like there was just no line between anybody. Everybody was so excited to be there."

Dawson was equally pumped up about her upcoming gig as one of the guest correspondents at Tuesday night's official Youth Ball, which will be a part of MTV's "Be the Change: Live From the Inaugural" special.

"I'm really excited," she said. "When we were in the wings [at the concert], I was standing with Forest Whitaker and Usher, and we hadn't all stood together since I was 19, 10 years ago, doing 'Light It Up.' And suddenly we found ourselves going, 'Oh my God, look at where we are.' "

Dawson said she's looking forward to telling the Youth Ball audience about what Voto Latino has been up to and how much more work there still is left to be done.

"We're still very much trying to get people registered," she said. "Because, even though I know y'all just voted, there's still so much to do. There are 50,000 Latinos turning 18 every month, so we need to get them registered and ready to go, so we don't need to scramble at the next election."

At the ball, Dawson said she'll also be interviewing attendees about their experiences voting and quizzing first-time voters about what they did to get out the vote. "People were really participatory, and people were volunteering and being really active, and I'm curious to hear their stories as well."

As proud as Dawson said she is of the way Latino voters mobilized in 2008, she admitted that she would not be along the parade route or in the stands on Inauguration Day.

"I think I'm going to be in a warmer place than just standing outside," she said, perhaps still trying to warm her bones after the bone-chilling temperatures during "We Are One." "It was a little rough today. I think I'm gonna celebrate that with my staff, and then we're going to go out, and I'll see you at the Youth Ball."

"Be the Change: Live From the Inaugural" will air live on MTV on Tuesday, January 20, at 10 p.m. ET/PT. MTV News will have wall-to-wall coverage of the event and of the scenes in Washington, D.C., New Orleans and Kenya in the days leading up to the event and in the days that follow.