About Donna
A career spent learning what leadership actually looks like.
Donna McAleer is an inspirational speaker addressing leadership, role models, team building, and boundary breaking — and the award-winning author of Porcelain on Steel: Women of West Point’s Long Gray Line. She has studied and practiced leadership for more than twenty years as a West Point graduate, U.S. Army officer, business leader, nonprofit executive, high school coach, and national bobsled team hopeful.
More about Donna
West Point & Beyond
Donna graduated West Point in 1987 and served as an Army officer in a variety of leadership positions in Germany. She left the service in 1991 to pursue an MBA at the Darden Graduate School of the University of Virginia and a career in the private sector.
Professional Life
Donna began in corporate consulting and global logistics with the Novations Consulting Group and later Mercer Consulting Group, then became Vice President of Global Logistics and Support Services at GenRad, a leading producer of electronic test equipment — responsible for the development and implementation of a global logistics and customer support strategy.
The Olympic Pursuit
In February 2000, Donna left the corporate world for Park City, Utah, to chase a lifelong dream: representing the United States in the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in the medal debut of Women’s Bobsled. As a bobsled driver, she finished 4th in Olympic trials — missing the team by only two spots.
Public Service
In 2013, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta appointed Donna to the Defense Advisory Council for Women in the Service. In 2012 and 2014, she was elected the Democratic candidate for Utah’s 1st Congressional District.
Giving Back
After the 2002 Games, Donna became Executive Director of the People’s Health Clinic in Park City, coached high school and youth sports, and worked with Journeys Within Our Communities to support a school and orphanage in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
In 2019, Donna became the Executive Director of Bicycle Collective, a non-profit organization with the mission to promote cycling as an effective, sustainable & affordable form of transportation & recreation, & as a cornerstone of a cleaner, healthier, and safer society. The Collective provides refurbished bicycles & educational programs to the community focusing on youth & lower income households, newly arrived refugees & people experiencing housing insecurity. The Collective has three community bike shops that sell refurbished bicycles, used and new components, & accessories, the revenue from which is reinvested into programming that allows us to give hundreds of bikes to adults and kids in need each year, teach free repair classes, earn-a-bike, job training. In 2024, Utah Business named Donna as a CEO of the honoree.
“Donna’s military demeanor combines well with her intellect and warmth to make her a very effective speaker.”
Marie D. Maxwell, Dean of Students, Harpeth Hall School