Profile

• PhD Business Administration (Management), Sobey School of Business, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
• MBA (Marketing), University of Tennessee
• BA Business Administration, North Carolina State University

Donna Boone Parsons is a native of Asheville, North Carolina.  She started her career in marketing field, with experiences ranging from not-for-profit organization, a multinational corporation, and a small, start-up, tech company. Dr. Parsons has been involved in several start-up ventures, including the Asheville area’s first pet cemetery and crematory.  She began working for her family business at age five and served for over twenty-five years in the family firm as a consultant to small and medium-sized family-owned firms.  She continues to engage in consulting work with selected firms, linking the classroom to the world of work.

Dr. Parsons has facilitated student learning as a college-level instructor since 1994, teaching a variety of courses in management, marketing, entrepreneurship, and family business.  She is published in international journals on the topic of gender and organizations.  Dr. Parsons is engaged in current research on women in family firms which bridges her interest in organizational gendering and her consulting experience working with family-owned businesses.

Donna Parsons is actively engaged in the community, serving in leadership positions in community not-for-profits, local schools, and her church.