Donna Coen O’Gorman, AIA, LEED Green Associate

Shortly after graduating from NJIT, at a time when less than 8% of the School of Architecture’s graduating class were women, Donna’s career trajectory led her to educational work. Having dedicated more than 25 years of her career to this sector, she has been employed by the Newark Public Schools, Rutgers University, Kean University and the New Jersey Schools Development Authority.

In 2015, she retired from public service and joined DMR. As a senior project manager, she brings the unique perspective of the client, as she previously spent her entire career working for the clients the DMR team services. Today her efforts are mostly focused on educating her clients on how to support today’s learners in advanced, sophisticated and effective learning environments, while also helping to implement these projects in a cost-effective way.

During her tenure, in addition to managing hundreds of projects, primarily for New Jersey school districts, she organically expanded her role to client advocacy, business development and understanding evolving educational programming needs. Through a commitment to continuing education, conference involvement and thought leadership, she is a published author and a frequent lecturer on topics such as school security, new project delivery methods, and design trends. Her enthusiasm and skill earned her the position of DMR’s educational sector’s first Director of Business Development in 2021.

A licensed architect, Donna is also an empowering advocate for professional licensure, having achieved her professional registration when the percentage of women starting the licensure process hovered around 10% of all applicants, with even less completing the process.