About Sheri Donahue
LOUISVILLE ROOTS
- Born and raised in Louisville.
- My parents have been married for 52 years and live in the same house where my brother and I grew up.
- I learned about the importance of public service from my dad, who served in the U.S. Army and then as a volunteer firefighter for 23 years, and my mom, who served as a substitute teacher and later as an engineering technician at Naval Ordnance.
- Attended St. Polycarp and St. Clement grade school and went to high school at Angela Merici and Holy Cross High School (class of 1986) where I was senior class president.
- Lived in St. Matthews for 25 years, the last 23 years in the same house in St. Matthews.
- My boyfriend, Vic Korfhage, is a 28-year veteran of the Louisville Fire Department and, in our years together, I’ve become honorary stepmom to his daughters, Kelsey and Macy.
- My son, Ryan, 21, is a 2015 graduate of St. X, and is a senior at UK majoring in Political Science and Economics. He spent the second semester of his junior year interning in Washington, DC, for Congressman Cedric Richmond (D-Louisiana). He also worked on Bill Noelker’s campaign for Representative in 2016. Ryan strongly supports my decision to run for office and is one of my closest advisors.
COLLEGE
- Earned a BS in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University, 1990.
CAREER
- Spent over 19 years as a civilian engineer working for the US Navy.
- Worked on gun systems (Mk 75/76 mm-62 cal) and Naval Surface Fire Support missions, conducting research on improving gun performance and safety of weapons systems.
- Worked on the DD-21 shipbuilding program in technology security, including protection from intelligence gathering by foreign adversaries.
- Became Program Manager for Security and Intelligence for Naval Surface Warfare Center, managing a $64M portfolio of intelligence and intelligence-related projects for the Navy, DoD and other US Government agencies, merging science and technology with intelligence to provide solutions for war fighters.
- Worked on the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA) and Interagency OPSEC Support Staff (IOSS)
- Served as Managing Director for InfraGard National Members Alliance (INMA) and as the President and Executive Director for Cyber Conflict Studies Association (CCSA) for two years.
- Director of Customer Support for DisastersNet, working with software developers to develop, test, train and implement automated incident command for healthcare facilities.
- In the private sector, I spent four years at Humana, first as Project Manager for Medicare and later as a Cyber Security Strategic Partnerships Director for Enterprise Information Protection.
- National President of InfraGard (3 years) – worked with the White House, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, ATF, US Secret Service, Interpol, and others in developing key partnerships to improve America’s infrastructure protection and cyber security.
- Member of the National Board of Directors for InfraGard (10 years).
VOLUNTEER WORK
- Susan G. Komen 3-day Walk for the Cure.
- Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America mentoring and fundraising.
- Make-A-Wish fundraising.
- Michel Vital Foundation for Haitian orphanage support (advisor).
- Purdue Engineering Alumni Association Board of Directors and speaks often at Purdue with undergrad and grad students on career planning.
- Mentoring young people.
PUBLIC SPEAKING
I’m an experienced public speaker and conference presenter. Topics and audiences include:
- Cyber security conferences (including the keynote at SecureWorld Boston 2017).
- Helping people manage technology.
- Creative career planning for graduate and undergraduate students in a variety of fields.
- Career guidance for college students specifically in engineering and intelligence work.
HONORS
- InfraGard Lifetime Leadership Award
- Certificate of Appreciation from the U.S. Army,
- Special Act award from Navy for Naval Surface Fire Support Mission
- 5 certificates of appreciation for services in the public interest from the FBI
