Q&A on Careers and Credentialing with Ashley McDonald

Ashley McDonald is an internationally credentialed public information officer and seasoned media relations professional. She currently serves as PIO for the Emergency Management Association of Tennessee, supports the Tennessee Fire Chiefs Mutual Aid Section, and is a deployable PIO3 with the State of Tennessee’s All Hazards Incident Management Team. McDonald holds a B.S. in Public Relations from Middle Tennessee State University and has completed FEMA’s Executive PIO Program, FBI-LEEDA Master PIO, and UT Law Enforcement Innovation Center (LEIC) Master PIO. She also teaches PIO Essentials and Master PIO courses as a UT LEIC associate. As past president of the National Information Officers Association, she led the development of the CPSE’s professional PIO designation, earning NIOA’s “Leadership in Public Information Award” in 2023. She received the CPSE’s international PIO designation in 2022 and has served on the Commission on Professional Credentialing since that year. McDonald was awarded the Southeastern Association of…