Ali Donovan is the Director of Development for the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University. She is a collaborative leader with more than 15 years of experience engaging partners, building teams, and operationalizing strategy to drive rapid growth at organizations across sectors. In her role, Ali works closely with partners to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Program. 

Previously, she worked as an independent consultant focused on mission-driven organizations. As a trusted thought-partner to Founders, CEOs, and leadership teams, Ali stood up new programs, improved team effectiveness, and increased revenue for clients such as the Latino Community Foundation, SkillUp, Springboard Collaborative, and ClimbHire. Ali has also held in-house leadership roles at NationSwell and PAVE Academy Charter School. At PAVE, Ali worked closely with the Board of Trustees and Executive Director to close a $39 million capital campaign and meaningfully steward principal donors over the course of the multi-year project. 

Ali holds a BA in Economics from UNC-Chapel Hill, where she was a Public Service Scholar, and lives in Winston-Salem, NC with her dog, Stevie.

Ali Donovan
Director of Programming

donovana@wfu.edu