What is Donna’s experience?
A do-gooder with roots in the private sector, Donna has more than 20 years of global health and behavior change experience. Through an entrepreneurial spirit and a surprisingly recent discovery of the transcendental benefits of coffee, Donna has made it her life’s work to create positive change
What are her passions?
Donna’s passion for listening to and understanding people as a catalyst for change is one of the driving forces behind Changeable’s mission and values. Having worked in 40+ countries and counting, Donna is convinced that very often, recreating wheels is unnecessary. Her passion for people helps her listen; her collaborative zeal allows her to find, repurpose or co-create solutions. Whether it’s designing a community mobilization program or a multi-channel, national campaign, Donna relies on her persistent curiosity as a means of discovering unmet needs.
Where and in what kinds of projects has Donna worked?
A serial world traveler, Donna has led numerous insight-driven behavior change communication and marketing programs in Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central America. Her deep expertise with cross-cultural teams allows her to successfully collaborate with folks from diverse backgrounds and sectors to create impactful solutions that meet the needs of each unique intended audience.
Her past projects include, developing a national strategy to improve uptake of HIV treatment and care among men in Swaziland, improving community based reproductive health in Bangladesh, building behavior change and marketing capacity among health providers through an online platform, creating a successful documentary series tackling gender norms in Uganda, and implementing a multimedia program to boost infant and young child nutrition in Ghana.
What did Donna do before founding Changeable?
After years working in health marketing for Baxter Healthcare, Donna decided to follow her public sector passion and built a career in global health. Most recently, she served as Deputy Director of HIV and TB at Population Services International, based in Washington, DC. Prior to that, Donna spent years in east Africa as Deputy Regional Representative for Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication programs in Uganda, and as Regional Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Advocacy Manager for Family Care International in Kenya and Tanzania.
What did Donna study?
Donna holds a BS in Marketing from Hampton University and an MPH from Columbia University. When she’s not working on a behavior change project, you can most likely find her sitting in the middle of any place that serves up cheap, tasty street food and live music.
What does Donna pick at Karaoke?
No One, Alicia Keys
What can we find in Donna’s refrigerator?
Almond butter, a zillion garlic cloves, and baby spinach
What quote inspires Donna?
“All that you touch, you change, all that you change, changes you, the only lasting truth is change.” — Octavia Butler