Donna Markham is an Adrian Dominican Sister and immediate past-president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA). During her ministry at CCUSA, she led the implementation of national strategic initiatives directed toward alleviating the suffering of vulnerable people in the US. Launching the Healthy Housing Initiative to provide permanent homes for chronically homeless people, she leveraged the Catholic Charities network’s collaboration with Catholic Healthcare and Dioceses across the US in aggressive housing development for homeless and low income families.
Sister Donna has traveled extensively to the U.S. border to support efforts to care for migrants and refugees. Internationally, she has traveled to Ukraine to meet with church and civic leaders to explore how best to assist Ukrainian refugees arriving in the U.S.. Additionally, she has provided psychological consultation and trauma intervention for religious in Africa, Iraq, Philippines, Canada, Ireland, England and Norway. She served as a member of the USCCB Committees on Migration, Domestic Policy and Racism for the past nine years.
Receiving her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Detroit , Sister Donna has been involved in executive leadership development, organizational transformation and clinical practice throughout her professional career. She served as president of the Behavioral Health Institute at Mercy Health System where she led the transformation of the delivery of behavioral health services across the seven geographic regions of the health system. She has been named a Fellow of the American Board of Professional Psychology and of the Academy of Clinical Psychology. She has served as Prioress of the Adrian Dominican Congregation and as President of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in the U.S.
Donna has dedicated the majority of her life as an Adrian Dominican sister and a licensed and board-certified clinical psychologist to the ministry of personal and global healing, helping to foster both personal and organizational change. A writer, speaker and faith-driven leader, she is actively engaged in global peace initiatives and processes of reconciliation that have taken her across the world. She is the recipient of 10 honorary doctorates and has been named, each year for the past eight years, as one of the Top 50 nonprofit leaders in the U.S. by The NonProfit Times. Most recently, Sister Donna was honored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as one of 15 women faith leaders who have exhibited extraordinary leadership on behalf of humanity. In August 2023, she received the Outstanding Leadership Award from the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.