Donna Grande has over 25 years experience in program development, marketing and communications across public, private and nonprofit health and healthcare sectors.  She gained extensive experience and acquired great passion for disease prevention by working under Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, MD, and subsequently managed and directed two of the largest national health policy programs through public/private partnerships with the National Cancer Institute/American Cancer Society and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/American Medical Association.  As Vice President of Communications and Development at the Visiting Nurse Associations of America (VNAA), Donna led the organization through rebranding and Website redesign, managed media relations, developed strategic partnerships to advance the VNAA mission and secured resources through grants and sponsorships.  She currently serves as Associate Director of AED’s Center for Health Communication managing a professional team of 20 and directing national health campaigns for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.

Donna is a graduate of Annapolis Senior High School, has a B.S. in Journalism from the Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University and a Masters degree in Marketing and General Administration from the University of Maryland.  She completed additional executive coursework in Marketing, Fundraising and Leadership Development with Northwestern University in Chicago and Gallup University in Washington, DC.  She is a master-level Scuba diver, speaks German, and has traveled extensively around the world.  She lives in Annapolis with her husband, Mark, and recently rescued a Cocker Spaniel puppy, Bella.