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Donna McDowell – Beestman

45th Reunion Info

donna.beestman@tds.net

I enjoy living and working in Madison, having returning in 2002 after our careers took us elsewhere for many years. It’s great being back in this vibrant, interesting city and near family and friends, both old and new.

Family: After graduating from Macalester College in Minnesota, I married George – we’ve had 41 great years together. George and I did our graduate studies at the UW-Madison, and lived in St. Louis for 21 years and then in Delaware for 11 years. We have two wonderful grown children, Joan & Scott. Joan, an attorney for the US Board of Immigration Appeals, lives with her husband and Daniel, our first grandchild, near Washington, DC. Scott currently works and lives in St. Louis, but anticipates a move soon to the DC area to be near his fianc’.

Career: I am a Career Strategist and Executive Coach and have my own consulting business, Career Success Strategies (www.CareerSuccessStrategies.com.) I love working one-on-one with professionals on their career and semi-retirement issues. For the last 15 years I have been a consultant, general manager, and business developer in the field of career management and organizational consulting. Earlier, I worked in areas of performance improvement consulting, non-profit management and education.

Interests & Volunteer Activities
Currently I enjoy serving with several community organizations: Downtown Madison Rotary, Tempo Madison (an organization of executive women), and the Board of the Wisconsin Alumni Association. We also enjoy travel and this will be our A to Z Summer, for we will be visiting Alaska and Zambia, Africa. We will return from Africa just two days before the reunion.

Retirement Plans: I love having my own consulting practice and have no current plans to retire. As long as the work is enormously satisfying and enjoyable, I plan on continuing.