Women Of Excellence: Donna Buchanan
Former president, Junior Achievement of Georgia
Allison Shirreffs
July 1, 2008
sponsored by:
W
hen Donna Buchanan stepped aside as president of Junior Achievement (JA) of Georgia at
the end of last month, she left a post she'd held for 15 years. Although her successor, COO Jack
Harris, had been groomed for the job, Buchanan's retirement from JA wasn't unlike the day Atlanta
Braves' manager Bobby Cox will hang up his jersey and a new leader commandeers the top step of the
team's dugout.
Buchanan's name is synonymous with JA, and like Cox and the Braves, she helped tailor a turnaround. "JA's my love," she says. "It's defined my career. It's been my life for so long."
Buchanan, who participated in JA while in high school in an effort "to meet boys," discovered an aptitude for the organization's business curriculum, such as buying and selling stock; deciding which products to manufacture; and what items to liquidate at the end of the year. A JA volunteer encouraged Buchanan to enter some contests, and she won a few. As a result of one win, Buchanan spent a year as the organization's national spokesperson.
It was no surprise then, after Buchanan graduated from Georgia State University, that JA hired her to work as a project manager. There was a short stint where Buchanan left JA to work for a for-profit organization, but when JA of Georgia's president's job opened up, the board asked her to take it and she did.
The day after Buchanan moved into her new office, however, she learned the organization was $160,000 in debt. An entity devoted to helping young people be successful was in need of some help itself.
These days, JA's bank account isn't cause for alarm, even in the current economy. "Our mission is extremely clear. We're creating and empowering the future workforce – the future drivers of Atlanta and far beyond. Everybody cares about education, even in tough times," Buchanan says.
"
Her biggest rallying point is her heart and passion for what she does in helping our students," says Kevin Fletcher, VP of community and economic development, Georgia-Power, and JA's board chairman. "Her energy and leadership skills are all centered around something she believes in and is extremely focused on."
This year, JA will affect 108,000 young people in nearly 600 schools across the state. In addition to in-class teachings, JA offers targeted programs such as JA Hispanic Outreach, JA Fellows (an elite after-school program) and JA Job Shadow, which gives junior and high school students the opportunity to talk with role models and spend time with them as they work.
In her position, Buchanan met a significant number of area businesspeople, including many of the 5,000 volunteers who work with kids. She's been impressed with the amount of talented women she's encountered, but would like to see more women aspire "for more opportunity," she says. And while she sees women step into leadership roles in the government sector, she finds less doing so in business.
She'd also like to see women champion one another more. "It's not a zero sum game. We need to support each other."
Return to the Women Of Excellence index page.
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