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Donna McKay

Board Member

Donna McKay is executive director of Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), a global organization which uses the power of science and medicine to call attention to severe human rights violations around the world. McKay provides overall leadership and strategic direction to PHR’s mission to build a worldwide network of health care professionals dedicated to defending human rights. Since she joined PHR in 2012, the organization has empowered thousands of human rights activists on five continents to obtain justice for victims of human rights violations. Under McKay’s stewardship, PHR won the prestigious 2017 Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights and has embarked on an aggressive growth campaign anchored by the largest gift in PHR’s history. Before joining PHR, McKay served for nearly a decade as the director of institutional advancement and special projects at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), where she played a critical role in the ACLU’s response to the erosion of civil liberties following 9/11, and designed and led a $400 million national campaign to significantly expand the ACLU’s presence in the South and Midwest Regions. McKay also served as vice president for development at the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, and as a director and senior program officer for Planned Parenthood of New York City.