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A Legacy of Leadership and Service | MNA 2020-2021 Annual Report

December 31, 2021

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As a chapter closes, it's important to look back to celebrate successes and examine lessons learned. There has been no better time to do this than over the past two years, and the Michigan Nonprofit Association (MNA), and its member nonprofits, have certainly learned a great deal during the pandemic. But, as 2021 draws to a close, MNA also looks back over the legacy of its most senior leader.


Donna Murray-Brown, MNA President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), closes her chapter with the organization after 12 years of service. Murray-Brown has been at the helm of MNA during some of the most challenging times. Her tenure includes leading through the pandemic, focusing even more on diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) efforts, as well as orchestrating a complete reorganization of the Association, known as One MNA.

Under her leadership, MNA committed anew to its core values of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and added justice (J) to those values in 2019. Murray-Brown not only spearheaded many DEIJ efforts for MNA and its members, but her very role as MNA's CEO broke some of the organization's own internal glass ceilings. She is the first woman, as well as the first woman of color, to lead MNA in its 31-year history. It is something about which she feels strongly.

"Being a woman of color in the workforce is an added layer of 'I've got to succeed' because there are so many other people who might not have this opportunity and they're looking at me to be their gateway," said Murray-Brown.

She provided a critical perspective at a time when situations such as the pandemic and the Breonna Taylor and George Floyd incidents raised fresh concerns of systemic racism.

Download MNA 2020-21 Annual Report

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