Donna Mccullough

Donna McCullough is the chief mission and field operations officer of the Alzheimer’s Association. In this role, she oversees mission delivery across the Association’s nationwide network of community-based chapters. In addition, McCullough leads all aspects of philanthropic support for the Association.

In her role, McCullough provides strategic oversight to more than 1,300 employees in communities nationwide, while driving a culture of volunteer engagement across the Association’s initiatives and implementing robust education and awareness campaigns to mobilize communities. She works to ensure continuous improvement of the organization’s strategic priorities, with particular emphasis on the advancement of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, local care and support programs, health systems relationships, concern and awareness efforts, advocacy goals, research developments and fundraising support.

In her development role, McCullough is responsible for leading the Association’s fundraising initiatives. With significant experience creating and developing strategy for large nonprofits, she shapes the Association’s nationwide and local efforts to grow revenue in support of its mission. Under her strategic leadership, the organization has experienced the strongest revenue growth within the voluntary health sector.

With McCullough’s direction, the Association offers opportunities for individuals and organizations with exceptional vision and resources to make a transformational difference for those facing Alzheimer’s and all other dementia. The U.S. POINTER Study, the Part the Cloud global research program, the Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care ECHO® Program and the Association’s new Mission Engagement Division are among the initiatives made possible with the support of our philanthropic partners.

McCullough also manages a thriving portfolio of fundraising events for the Association. Walk to End Alzheimer’s® has grown significantly, and as a result was most recently recognized as the second-largest peer-to-peer fundraising event in the country. Due to the success of Walk and The Longest Day®, the organization's second signature fundraising event, the Association was named Fundraising Organization of the Year in 2019 by the Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum. In addition, McCullough provides oversight of the Association’s newest fundraising event, Ride to End ALZ®, a multicity cycling challenge that raises funds and awareness to advance Alzheimer’s research.

Providing leadership for the organization’s corporate partnerships, McCullough drives new business collaborations, developing brand-building initiatives at a global, national and regional level, and leading multifaceted employee giving campaigns. She also provides leadership and direction for direct marketing strategies that have continued to outpace the nonprofit sector through traditional mail and digital strategies.

McCullough earned her bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of West Florida and has advanced leadership training from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, Harvard University and Mutual of America.