Mary Fant Donnan

Biography

Mary Fant Donnan is a candidate for the Democratic nomination for state labor commissioner.

Early Life and Education 

She was born in Union, S.C., and grew up on a cattle farm in Grayson County, Virginia. Her mother was a teacher and her father was a physician.

She graduated from Davidson College in 1984 with a bachelor's degree in music and pre-med.

She then studied on a Rotary International Fellowship in Australia, earning a master's degree in 1988 in environmental studies from the University of Adelaide in South Australia. 

Professional Career

From 1988 to 1989, she was a public school music teacher in Virginia. 

From 1989 to 1994, she worked as development director for the N.C. Center for Public Policy Research. 

From 1994 to 2001, she worked as director of research and policy at the state Department of Labor.  

Since 2001, she has worked as a program officer for the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, working on community economic development. 

Labor Commissioner 2008

On Feb. 26, 2008, she filed to run for state Commissioner of Labor against incumbent Republican Cherie Berry. She faces Ty Richardson and Robin Anderson in the Democratic primary.

She was endorsed by the state chapter of the AFL-CIO. 

Occupation

Donnan serves on the board of the Leadership Triangle and the board of the N.C. Community Development Initiative in Raleigh. She also serves on the board of the Partners for Homeownership in Winston Salem and is active Highland Presbyterian church in Winston Salem.

She is a former chair of Citizens Advisory Council of the Mordecai Neighborhood and a former member of First Presbyterian Church in Raleigh.

Contact Info

Email: mary@maryfantdonnan.com

Education

Military

Issues

How will you measure success in your first year in office?

"The restructuring of the economy and trying to create enough jobs with benefits that provide access to high-quality health care."

Tell us about something you did for someone else.

"I try to take on a lot of service and listen to people whenever that chance arises. I try to help people wherever I'm planted."

What is the biggest challenge facing North Carolina? Your county? Your district?

"I'm going into this office with an interest in improving workplace safety in health and will measure my success in that arena by how well
we do in setting benchmarks and achieving them. The second measure of success is strengthening our workplace standards. Again, I want to set some benchmarks on workplace standards.  Third, I want to determine if we have improved the visibility of the department in its community engagement and efforts to create public policy that's relevant to working families."

Links