Michael Donley
Former DoD Performance Improvement Officer/Director Of Administration and Management
Management and Governance
Michael Donley
Former DoD Performance Improvement Officer/Director Of Administration and Management
Management and Governance
Mike Donley has 45 years of Washington experience in the national security community, including service in the Senate, White House,and Pentagon. A tested leader and manager, his experience ranges across defense, intelligence, and foreign affairs, from policy andstrategy, to personnel and budgeting, and across political lines.
Mr. Donley most recently served as DoD’s Performance Improvement Officer and Director of Administration and Management in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, a job known informally as “Mayor” of the Pentagon, from 2021-2023. He was the Secretary’s principal staff assistant for DoD organizational and administrative matters, responsible for DoD’s Strategic Management Plan and managing the Pentagon Reservation, including all construction, facility operations, and security. He had previously served as theDA&M from 2005 to 2008.
As the longest serving Secretary of the Air Force (2008 to 2013), and the only one to bridge two Presidential administrations of different parties, Mr. Donley was responsible for the recruiting, training, and equipping of over 600,000 military and civilian personnel and an annual budget over $110 billion. Concurrently, he was DoD’s Executive Agent for Space, chaired the DoD Space Council, and coordinated DoD space plans and programs with other government agencies.
From 1989 to 1993, Mr. Donley served as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management & Comptroller), including 7 months as Acting Secretary. Prior to that role, he served two Presidents and five National Security Advisors while at the National Security Council from 1984 to 1989, first as Director of Defense Programs and later as Deputy Executive Secretary. He spent five years in the U.S. Senate, including four years as a Professional Staff
Member on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Outside of his official assignments, Mr. Donley has been a Trustee and Chairman of the Board for The Aerospace Corporation (2013-2021), a consultant to McKinsey & Co. and Northrop Grumman, and a Strategic Advisor to the non-profit Partnership for Public Service. As a defense consultant from 1993 to 2005, first as Senior Fellow at the Institute for Defense Analyses, and later as Senior Vice President at Hicks & Associates, Mr. Donley focused on defense management, organization, and force transformation, supporting senior DoD officials, corporate clients and numerous boards and commissions. He led major studies of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, and the Unified Command Plan; and served 18 months as Special Advisor to the international Defense Reform Commission in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Mr. Donley is twice a recipient of the DoD medal for Distinguished Public Service, equivalent awards from the Army, Navy, and Air Force, and the Air Force Order of the Sword. He also received the Stuart Symington and General Bernard Schriever awards from the Air Force Association. He holds BA and MA degrees in International Relations from the University of Southern California.