Major General (Ret.) Donna Barbisch, DHA, MPH

United States Army

 

Major General (Ret.) Donna Barbisch is a dynamic role model, leader and agent for change. She is dedicated to helping you develop your leadership potential and guiding you to become an architect of your future. She is an internationally acclaimed speaker and subject matter expert in disaster preparedness and resiliency who moves people to action.

 

Donna started her military career as a Private First Class in the Army Student Nurse Program and rose to the rank of Major General over a military career spanning more than 38 years, retiring from the Army in 2005. Today Donna is the President of Global Deterrence Alternatives, a consulting business focused on deterring terrorism and building capacity to manage disasters. She works nationally and internationally to improve preparedness and works with think tanks and executive boards to develop strategic solutions to complex issues. General Barbisch has been described as a visionary with an entrepreneurial approach to emerging threats.

 

A life-long learner, Donna Barbisch earned a Doctorate in Health Administration from the Medical University of South Carolina, a Master in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Bachelor of Science from California University of Pennsylvania. She also earned a diploma in nursing from Columbia Hospital School of Nursing in Pittsburgh and a diploma in nurse anesthesia from Mercy Hospital School of Anesthesia in Pittsburgh.

 

Donna is a trail blazer with a fascinating career. She joined the Army in 1967 at the height of the Vietnam War when most women just did not do that. To put it in historical perspective, it was that year–1967 that restrictions to women’s promotions were lifted. Soon after, she had an assignment as the Director of Reserve Component Integration Studies in the War College’s Department of Command, Leadership, and Management. Because of her experience at the War College, her efforts shifted to the study of bioterrorism and combating weapons of mass destruction. She led an initiative to identify military roles in domestic support of terrorist attacks. Her seminal work in NYC established policy and protocol credited with improving NYC response to 9/11. During her promotion to Major General the Chief of the Army Reserve said “We would not have responded so well on September 11th and since then without the contributions of Donna Barbisch."

 

Donna has lectured extensively on building capacity to manage catastrophic disaster and terrorism events often referred to as “Surge Capacity,” a concept she initially developed in 1996. She is often a featured speaker at national and international events like the National Emergency Management Summit. Donna is a Distinguished Fellow and affiliate faculty at the George Mason University, Center for Critical Infrastructure and on the Editorial Advisory Board of the AMA’s journal, Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. Donna continues to support community as member of the Board of Directors of the Capitol Hill Restoration Society, and Capitol Hill Village, local organizations in Washington DC and supporting military service men and women as a member of the Board of Directors of the Army Distaff Foundation, Knollwood.