professional headshot of Donna Catalano, sitting in industrial office setting with short brown hair and wearing a blouse with a navy blue vest

Meet Our Team:

Donna Catalano, MS, PMP

Consultant

With over 35 years of leadership experience in the nonprofit sector, Donna brings a deep understanding of the opportunities and challenges organizations face and knows that transforming big visions into actionable outcomes is no small task for nonprofit leaders. Throughout her career, Donna has found that even well-established organizations with strong missions can be hindered by operational inefficiencies, unstructured project management, and stakeholder communication challenges.

Before joining the Mission + Strategy team, Donna founded and led Eastlake Solutions, a consulting firm specializing in applying best practices in project management, organizational development, and change leadership to help nonprofits reach their goals.

Prior to this, in her role as Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer at Search, Inc. in Chicago, Donna successfully managed diverse responsibilities. These included program improvement planning, outcomes measurement and management, quality assurance, human resources, safety systems, facility management, and the delivery of vocational, residential, medical, and behavioral services. Her operational expertise was complemented by a thorough understanding of state and federal regulations governing community-based services for adults with intellectual disabilities.

Additionally, since 1998, Donna has served as a surveyor for the Commission for the Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). In this role, she has traveled across the U.S. and Canada to consult on best practices in nonprofit management and service delivery for individuals with disabilities.

As a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), Donna combines practical experience with proven methodologies to deliver sustainable results. She holds a Bachelor of Social Work with dual majors in social work and psychology from Western Michigan University and a Master of Science in Nonprofit Management from DePaul University.

Together, we are stronger.

Ready to strike a balance between your mission and business strategies?