Dan MacDonald brings more than 25 years of experience in media and public relations (PR), developing and implementing successful communication strategies. He’s an accomplished storyteller and PR practitioner who combines his love of writing and media expertise to devise the best communications strategy to tell your unique story, engage your key audiences and drive outstanding results for your business.
Dan spent nearly 20 years in broadcast journalism working for CBS affiliates in Nashville, Minneapolis and Grand Rapids, Michigan as well as the ABC affiliate in Nashville. Dan earned numerous awards for his journalistic work, including: Emmys, Associated Press and RTNDA Edward Murrow Awards for feature writing, hard news and investigative reporting and live news coverage.
In 2002, Dan transitioned to corporate communications joining Bridgestone Americas as its Director of Media Relations. In his 10 years at Bridgestone, Dan rose to the level of Vice President of Community and Corporate Relations. He played in integral role on the team that successfully managed the aftermath of the Firestone tire recall crisis and helped the Firestone brand fully recover. Dan was responsible for PR outreach, executive and employee communications, litigation/crisis communications, sports marketing communications and social media platforms. He was instrumental in creating the company’s award-winning Teens Drive Smart program. With its hands on driver training sessions and social engagement, the program has positioned Bridgestone at the forefront of distracted driving education and teen driver safety.
He joined a major discount retailer in 2012, serving for five years as Senior Director of Corporate Communications. Under his leadership, the communications teams created a digital portal for all employee communications and earned more than 25 PRSA Awards for excellence in public relations brand outreach, employee communications, social media programs.
Dan earned his bachelor’s degree in International Relations from James Madison College at Michigan State University. He earned his Master’s in Journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. He and his wife Heather have one son, Ian, who attends the University of Tennessee. Dan is an avid golfer, ice hockey player, mountaineer and loves to travel with his family and enjoys classic movies and great books.