Rockville Rotary meets every Thursday between 12:15-13:15, currently virtually over zoom.
Donna Vincent Roa, PhD, ABC, CDPM
Dr. Donna Vincent Roa is the Partnerships Incubator’s project director, leading the global service hub of 12 professionals and nearly 70 consultants tasked to expand USAID’s capacity for partnerships, diversify and strengthen its partner base, and build the capacity of partners that have received an award from USAID. An internationally accredited business communicator (ABC) and a certified development project manager (CDPM®), she has written numerous industry articles and is the author of four books, including The Value of Water: A Compendium of Essays by Smart CEOs and Five Knocks, a contemporary issues novel with a focus on China's one-child policy.
She previously served as chief of party for the Securing Water for Food (SWFF) Technical Assistance Facility, a project of The Kaizen Company, where she catalyzed social impact entrepreneurship in the water-agriculture nexus with 40 innovators operating in 35 countries. Before joining Kaizen, Donna was a management and branding consultant for international organizations, the Environmental Protection Agency’s public affairs director and director of science communication, and a social scientist with the U.S. Information Agency. Globally recognized as a champion for innovation, water, sustainability, and the environment, she was one of 10 social scientists to conduct research in world capitals for the U.S. Treasury Department’s first redesign of the $100 bill. She has won two Stevie Awards (Female Executive of the Year/Government or Non-Profit and Female Innovator of the Year/Government or Non-Profit) and a Fast Company World Changing Ideas Award.
Donna holds a doctorate in international communication and has worked in or traveled to 45 countries—including France, where her short film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. A one-time country and western disc jockey, she gave the graduation keynote address to the first class of social marketers in Cajamarca, Peru; is of Cajun heritage and is a descendant of the 11th governor of Louisiana; and sings lead in an internationally ranked (fourth in the world) a cappella chorus and in Pinnacle Quartet.