Lisa Donohue, Milton Academy Class of 1983, will succeed Brad Bloom as president of the Milton Academy Board of Trustees when his term concludes in 2015. Milton trustees voted in May to elect Lisa as the president, effective July 1, 2015. Since she joined the board in 2008, Lisa has taken a leadership role, particularly in the areas of external relations, strategic planning, campaign preparation, and developing the membership and practices (or processes) of the board.
“I am thrilled that I will be able to build on Brad’s strong leadership over the last five years, and the board’s work to strengthen Milton’s tradition of excellence in education,” Lisa says. “I look forward to making sure that the exciting momentum at Milton, as we implement our bold Strategic Plan and build the campaign to dramatically increase Milton’s endowment, continues at a brisk pace in the years to come.”
Lisa Donohue is CEO of Starcom USA, a media agency focused on the convergence of media, technology and creativity.
Since she became CEO of Starcom in 2009, the company has won more than 100 honors for its clients, spanning disciplines, including digital, print, TV, mobile, out of home, event, social and branded content. For the past three years, Starcom has been named the most effective media agency network in North America by the Effies, and was selected as MEDIA’s 2011 Creative Media Agency of the Year.
Lisa was named Chicago Advertising Federation’s Advertising Woman of the Year in 2011 and Adweek’s 2011 Executive Media All-Star. At the time of the award, Adweek described Lisa as an executive “who has transformed Starcom from a stodgy numbers-crunching conglomerate into a taproot of innovation. Since assuming her role in June 2009, she invested in bleeding-edge analytics tools, bolstered the company’s entrepreneurial culture with internal social networks and events, and hammered home her message of ‘experience planning.’”
Prior to joining Milton’s board, Lisa worked effectively as a volunteer for the School in a number of areas. She was a member of the Head of School’s Council, a group that provides perspective and expertise to the head of school. Lisa chaired her 25th Reunion Committee, and she also established an endowed fund that supports a female scholar-athlete.
“I credit Milton for giving me the skills to handle what I do every day,” Lisa says. “I learned how to think, how to assess situations, how to look at all the information and come to [my] own conclusions. I learned these core skills at Milton.”
Brad Bloom, current president, and Todd Bland, head of school, had planned for some time to implement a smooth and gradual transition to new leadership of the board. They are both looking forward to working with Lisa as she gains increasing responsibility and connection with Milton constituencies over the coming year.
Lisa graduated from Brown University. She serves on the Advertising Women of New York (AWNY) Board of Directors, the 4A’s Board of Directors and Media Leadership Council, and is a member of The Chicago Network.