Donna F. Klepper, EdD

Donna Klepper is an experienced adult educator, training and higher education professional, practitioner and coach. She is committed to and experienced in developing leaders and building effective teams and organizations in the public sector. 

Donna is currently a SEI/LEAD/Leap instructor for the nationally recognized leadership programs for local government leaders, offered by the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia. She is one of the founding instructors for its first program, the Senior Executive Institute (SEI).

During her career in higher education, Donna focused on adult continuingand professional education, community outreach, and leadershipdevelopment. She served as a founding director and professor at Piedmont Virginia Community College, where she developed and led its training and workforce development center. She later directed a comprehensive continuing education and professional studies organization at the University of Virginia’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies, and went on to lead a new initiative in academic and international outreach under the University’s Office of the Executive Vice Provost and President.

She subsequently joined the faculty of the Federal Executive Institute (FEI), where she provided leadership development for senior-level civilian federal employees. In this role, Donna facilitated team and individual leadership development, taught in key program areas, coordinated and delivered executive coaching for the Leadership for a Democratic Society program, and designed and taught customized leadership programs for government agencies. She also contributed to FEI’s collaboration with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), delivering leadership training and leadership coaching for both domestic and international programs. She retired from FEI in 2025.

Donna’s graduate degrees were awarded by the University of Virginia in Counselor Education (M.Ed.) and Higher Education (Ed.D.) through its Center for the Study of Higher Education.

Donna has served in numerous leadership positions both in the community and in higher education. She is past chair of the Board of Directors for the Charlottesville-Albemarle Chamber of Commerce (now the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce), a Leadership Charlottesville graduate and awarded the Distinguished Leadership Award by the National Association for Community Leadership. She served as president for the Society of Alumni at her undergraduate alma mater and as a member of its Board of Trustees. In 2021, she was awarded its Distinguished Alumna Award.