Michael A. Donahue, Ph.D., CFP

Michael A. Donahue is a progressive emergency services professional providing expertise in research, planning, delivery, and training. Mike has over 45 years of fire service experience with 32 years in front-line response. He spent seven years as a volunteer firefighter/EMT in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and served 35 years in the Montgomery County, Maryland, Fire and Rescue Service before retiring in 2012 as an Assistant Chief/Section Chief of the Fire Marshal’s Office. He remains a member of IAFF Local 1664.

Mike has served as a community risk reduction subject matter expert for several courses developed for the National Fire Academy (NFA).  He was the principal author of the Maryland State Highway Administration’s Multi-Agency Traffic Incident Management Training Manual, helped write the Baltimore Regional Transportation Incident Response Coordination Training, and helped write the Montgomery County Hazard Mitigation Plan, as well as several annexes in the Emergency Operations Plan.  Mike has broad experience working with local, state, and regional professionals on a range of topics related to community safety.

He remains active in the fire service, teaching at NFA, consulting, and serving on the Mid-Atlantic Life Safety Conference Steering Committee.  He holds a Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University in Fire and Emergency Management Administration, writing his dissertation on Fire Prevention in a New Age of Local Government Retrenchment.

Mike comes from a family of firefighter/rescuers.  His father was volunteer in Prince George’s County for over 50 years.  His brother retired from the Washington DC Fire Department and his brother-in-law continues to work for Anne Arundel County, Maryland.  Mike lives in Woodbine, Maryland.

In addition to collaborating with Karen Deppa on PilotLight Resilience Resources, LLC, and the Respond with Resilience™ class, Mike is Principal of the consulting firm NorthStar: Applied Community Safety Research, LLC, to assist government agencies and nonprofits in conducting and applying research to achieve greater safety and wellness, and reduced risk, at the community, organization, and individual levels.