Linkedin Recommendations
Recommenders' titles remain as currently listed on Linkedin and aren't necessarily current titles or necessarily reflections of previous professional connection.
Denzil Suite, Ph.D.
Vice President for Student Life at University of Washington, Vice President for Student Life at University of Washington
"Donna Buchanan ranks in the top 1% of professionals with whom I have worked in my career. She is an exceptionally thoughtful leader, motivator, and collaborator. I always felt I could depend on the high quality of her work and her capacity to take on more tasks than her peers. I wish I had more people around me of her caliber."
Ed. Becker, Ed.D.
Executive Director Environmental Health and Safety, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
"Dr. Buchanan's ability to design and launch new initiatives makes her one of the most respected members of USC's senior leadership. Her emphasis on skill development for frontline managers has encouraged growth and career development for all employees in USC's administrative and operational units.
Her recent efforts with the Facilities Management Division go well beyond training, but rather have served to re-envigorate the importance of high-quality customer service throughout the organization."
Pearl Hilliard, Ed.D.
(Donna's Former Manger), Leadership Development Consultant, Executive Coach and Author
"Donna did an outstanding job leading the development and implementation of the university’s harassment prevention compliance program for faculty and staff. She has excellent communication and interpersonal skills and interacted effectively with people of all levels. She was well-respected as a competent and trusted professional by her team as well as colleagues and clients throughout the university. Donna’s analytical skills resulted in well-planned and organized workload and challenging projects.
She did excellent work developing and teaching professional development courses. Her strong OD expertise and exceptional focus on customer service generated high praise from consulting clients across the university.."
Christine Umeda
Director, Talent and Organization Development at MATT Construction
(Former Colleague)
"Donna Buchanan is a true professional! Poised, polished, dedicated, experienced, and team-oriented are just a few of the terms that come to my mind when describing Donna’s demeanor and work ethic. She is targeted in her analysis of any issue and isn’t satisfied until she has uncovered the best solution available. I continue to value her unique perspective and thoughtful feedback to this day. She is a strong asset to any department."
John Zivi
Senior Pharmacy Learning Consultant at Kaiser Permanente
"I’ve had the pleasure to work with Dr. Donna Buchanan at the University of Southern California (USC) from 2004 to 2014, where she was my coworker and later an internal client. She was a great addition to our team and I enjoyed collaborating with her to create and deliver our professional development courses. Donna was an extremely knowledgeable professional who was passionate about her work and always delivered results. She was the recipient of several achievement awards during her time in the Professional Development department.
I was very impressed with the way Donna led the development and implementation of USC’s harassment prevention compliance program. It was a mammoth undertaking and she was able to navigate numerous challenges by utilizing her exceptional communication, interpersonal, analytical, and project management skills. Donna was well respected at USC for her leadership, congeniality, and ability to get things done.
As an internal consultant, I observed first-hand how Donna created a model organizational and professional development department from the ground up for USC’s Facilities Management Services (FMS) Division. She played a critical role in developing the staff and improving FMS’ customer service, employee satisfaction and productivity. Donna also had a powerful impact on FMS’ ability to create and achieve their strategic plan.
Donna was a joy to work with and I highly recommend her.."
But wait...there's more!
Leadership Development Consultant, Executive Coach and Author
"I had the pleasure of serving with Donna for two years on the board of Women in Management (WIM) at USC. In fact, she was my vice president during my first year as president of the organization.
One of Donna’s main responsibilities during her term was to facilitate the selection process for the Higher Education Resource Services (HERS) Institute, an organization dedicated to creating and sustaining a community of women leaders in higher education. As a HERS alumna herself, Donna did an excellent job of promoting the application and selection process, marshaling an interview and review panel to identify the best candidates possible and streamlining those processes to make it easier for her successors.
Prior to that she served as WIM Professional Development Chair, and overhauled the program in a positive way. I also recall her facilitating one of our annual board planning retreats with great skill, firmly but gently keeping us on track when we showed a tendency to stray from constructive strategizing. It was one of the most productive WIM retreats I have ever attended.
One of the things I have always admired most about Donna is her commitment and laser-like focus when put in charge of a project or program. She carefully considers all information and listens attentively to all points of view, and she never makes hasty decisions. Besides her great intelligence, she is one of the kindest, most considerate people I have known."
Fredric Maupin, Ed.D.
David A. Miller
Financial Advisor at LPL
"Dr. Donna Buchanan was my division supervisor on a long-term contract assignment at USC Facilities Management Services. While working with her, a few things became very evident: 1) her leadership and professionalism; 2) her thoroughness and attention to detail; 3) her awareness that our work impacted countless other people; and 4) her genuine caring nature for people in general.
After successfully completing my assignment to help Donna and her staff revamp the department’s communications protocol, marketing materials, and website, it was pretty difficult parting ways. Thankfully, our previous working relationship has extended into a friendship that still exists three years later.
Whether if it’s for an organization, program, or project, Donna’s ability to lead others on a strategic path and deliver quality results is undeniable. Although I’m not in the organizational development field anymore, if the opportunity ever presented itself, I would gladly work with Dr. Buchanan again."
Carol Craig, Ed.D.
Director of Client Services at Keck Medicine of USC
"Donna is a great leader. She is results oriented and knows how to inspire others toward achieving organization goals. Her passion for helping co-workers reach their full potential is sincere. Donna is a great role model for aspiring professionals."
Professional & Organization Development
"Donna is an inspiring colleague. She provides strong leadership in organization development. She is a champion of preparing organizations to take on new challenges while supporting the growth and development of staff and the leadership team. She brings her leadership experience into engagements in a way that allows every participant to understand and key concepts. Working with Donna has always been energizing because ideas turn to action."
