Biography
Donna has a passion for empowering new and experienced entrepreneurs to succeed at fulfilling their business goals and dreams. With over 25 years of working for nonprofit, government, and private lenders in the areas of business and home financing, she has helped hundreds of individuals achieve their business and home ownership goals. Donna finds it especially rewarding to work with diverse people who face systemic barriers to accessing capital. She is committed to working for an equitable world.
Donna’s prior experience includes being a Supervisor at the Planning and Economic Development Department of the City of St. Paul and chaired their credit committee for business loans, thereby establishing clear unbiased loan decision-making guidelines. She was also the Lending Manager at NeighborWorks Home Partners, a nonprofit providing mortgages for low-to-moderate income households to buy or fix up their homes; and 20+ years as a Sr. Loan Officer for banks and lenders.
In addition, Donna has run her own business as a certified trainer in workplace conflict resolution, team development, and family relationships and parenting skills.
Outside of the workplace, Donna is a very proud mom to a daughter, a stepdaughter, 2 step-granddaughters, and a cat. However, she has had pets all her life from turtles to horses.