Biography

Jamie McDonald is a nationally known social-sector entrepreneur and the founder of Generosity Inc. Jamie serves as an advisor to socially motivated CEOs and visionaries driving large-scale change.  Jamie partners with leaders at large companies, like Baltimore Gas and Electric, and cutting edge startup execs, like the Conscious Venture Labs. From the Campaign for Black Male Achievement to the Belfer Center for Innovation and Social Impact at 92Y to the Center for Urban Families to #GivingTuesday to Light City Baltimore, Jamie counsels game-changing organizations and initiatives.   In 2015, Jamie was honored to have been invited to speak at the launch of American Philanthropy, the Smithsonian Museum of American History's new permanent collection on philanthropy in the United States.

Prior to launching Generosity, she founded GiveCorps, a community building and online giving software platform connecting nonprofits and educational institutions to digital givers. GiveCorps was acquired Network for Good, the nation’s largest online charitable giving company, in 2015.

Before becoming an entrepreneur, Jamie was a Managing Director at Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown, where she enjoyed a 16-year career, and led several groups within investment banking, including the Private Equity Coverage Group, managing relationships with Alex. Brown’s private equity clients. 

Jamie has been featured in publications including the Wall Street Journal, the Huffington Post, the Chronicle of Philanthropy, the White House Social Innovation Blog, NTEN, The Baltimore Sun and many others. She is featured in the recently released book, Women Make Great Leaders, by bestselling author, Jill Griffin.

Jamie places a high priority on civic engagement.  She has been a longtime Board member of the Center for Urban Families.  She was the founding Chair of Light City, an international festival of innovation and light, that attracted more than 470,000 people in 2017.  She continues as Chair of the Labs@LightCity, one of the country's largest and most unique urban innovation conferences. She also serves on the boards of Open Society Institute, Impact Hub Baltimore, Venture for America, Johns Hopkins Social Innovation Lab, and #MarylandGivesMore. She has previously served on the boards of The Leadership, the Family Tree, Live! Baltimore, The Fund for Educational Excellence, and the Police Athletic League (PAL), among others.  She is a past co-chair of the Tocqueville Campaign ($10,000 gifts) for the United Way of Central Maryland and sat on the national board of the Keewaydin Foundation. 

Jamie was named Maryland Innovator of the Year in 2012.  She is a graduate of the 1997 class of the Greater Baltimore Committee’s Leadership program.  She was named one of Baltimore Business Journal’s “40 under 40.” She received the SiloBreaker award from Betamore in 2016. She received the Downtown Partnership's award for impact on Baltimore in 2016. She received the William Donald Schaefer award for the City of Baltimore in 2017. She was recognized as an Activist to Watch in 2017.

Jamie McDonald attended Cornell University for graduate school, focusing on International Development in a joint program between the College of Human Ecology and the Johnson Graduate School of Management.  She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Philadelphia University.  She lives in Baltimore with her husband, Tom, and their children, Ben, Cameron and Paige.