Donna Jackson

Director of Membership Development, Project 21, National Center for Public Policy Research

Donna Jackson, who serves as the director of membership development for the Project 21 black leadership network, is a seasoned accountant with public and private sector experience as well as previous forays into politics and ministry.

Donna is a sought-after speaker, having testified before Congress and also appearing regularly in the media and at conferences.

Donna earned a Bachelor of Accountancy (cum laude) from the California State University San Marcos. She has worked in accounting, auditing and management roles with major companies such as Ernst & Young and Marriott International in the private sector before serving in the public sector as a deputy controller for the Export-Import Bank of the United States. She is a member of the National Association of Black Accountants.

Prior to her career in accounting, Donna was a political operative in the state of Arkansas. She worked on the successful campaigns of Governor Mike Huckabee, Senator Tim Hutchinson and Representative (later Governor) Asa Hutchinson. She was active in campaign recruiting and communications. She played a vital role during the Huckabee governorship in recruiting black candidates for executive-appointed boards and commissions in addition to helping create job-training programs at a local community college and the Arkansas Office of Workforce Development.

She currently serves as an advisory board member for the Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) Center for Energy and Conservation, an advisory board member of the 2025 Project, a member of the Board of Directors of The Conservative Caucus, a member of the Heritage Foundation African American Advisory Council, and a member of the Board of Advisors of Our America.

She is a former board member of the Little Rock Minority Disability Advisory Network and a former member of the Crittenden County (Arkansas) Workforce Development Planning Committee. She was also a contributor to the Ernst & Young Diversity Think Tank.

Donna originally sought a role in the church. She is a former divinity graduate of Charles H. Mason Theological Seminary in Memphis, Tennessee. It was there that she was taught the gift of administration as a vital part of the Christian ministry.

Donna is a firm believer in free markets and entrepreneurship, rather than government, as a means of lifting people out of poverty.