From Brigadier General to Entrepreneur, Advisor, Trainer and Keynote Speaker
Experience
Brigadier General Donna Prigmore (aka “Donna” or “Gen. P”) has more than 38 years of leadership experience in the civilian and military sectors, culminating as the first female brigadier general to command the Oregon Air National Guard (ORANG). As the commander (i.e., CEO) she was responsible for two large flying organizations, more than 50 F-15C/D aircraft, 2400 people, and $6.5B in assets. She served in the United States Air Force and Air National Guard; her career started out as an enlisted member before she earned her officer commission (graduating at the top of her class), and later served at the Pentagon prior to leading the ORANG.
Donna also worked for the Port of Portland for nearly 16 years as a Senior Manager in airport operations where she led multiple teams, developed numerous passenger programs and amenities, managed change due to re-organizations, and significantly contributed to the Portland International Airport receiving the “Best Domestic U.S. Airport Award” seven years in a row.
Leadership Philosophy
Donna (Gen. P) is a true human-centered leader and credits her success to being in the arena where she was reputed for leading with grace and grit. Her passion for guiding people to be their absolute best, shadowing them to understand their work, and her heart for serving others, distinguishes her from other leaders and leadership consultants. What also characterizes Gen. P is the courage she possesses to hold people accountable and have authentic, tough conversations that sometimes lead to very hard decisions. With ethics and character as her compass, and grace and grit as her guide, she knows and understands that a leader’s responsibility is to take care of employees, a responsibility that includes providing the vision, direction, resources, and accountability necessary to execute the mission, whatever that may be.
Gen. P’s mission is to ‘pay it forward’ by sharing her leadership experience and lessons learned with anyone who seeks to become a leader or seeks to sharpen the leadership saw they already have. Since leading people requires a kaleidoscope of traits, values, and competencies, she’s on fire to give new and existing leaders all the tools they need to achieve peak performance, but to be the type of leader people actually want to follow.
Values
These values are at the core of Donna’s life and work:
Authenticity
Balance
Courage
Fairness
Family
Health/Fitness
Integrity
Pure Conscience
Relationships
Personal
Donna is a proud mother of two amazing sons Nathan (30) and Brian (27), and spends as much time with them and their girlfriends as possible. She enjoys exercise, meditation, yoga, kayaking, hiking, travel, and her two Maine Coon cats, Barnum and Bailey.
Some of her toughest, most memorable accomplishments to date are:
Becoming the first female brigadier general officer and first female commander in the Oregon Air National Guard
Earning a black belt in Tae Kwon Do with her two sons
Hiking the Grand Canyon at age 59 from rim to rim in one day, a 22-mile journey in 105+ degree temperatures
Donna has a heart for advising, training, and mentoring others on the topic of self-development and leadership. She’s passionate about helping people be the best version of themselves they can be to enable peak performance.