Don Dea
Board Chair | Corporate & Nonprofit Governance | M&A, AI, and Platform Growth | Aligning Strategy, Capital, and Scale
- Role
- Board Member at CalCPA
- Location
- Santa Monica, CA, US
- LinkedIn followers
- 500 followers
About Don Dea
I serve as a Board Chair and strategic advisor to organizations navigating growth, capital alignment, and governance at critical inflection points. My work focuses on helping boards, CEOs, and investors align strategy, structure, and execution as companies scale, particularly in technology-enabled and acquisition-driven environments. I am most often engaged at the board level during periods of expansion, capital formation, and strategic transition where disciplined governance and clear decision-making become essential. I currently chair multiple boards across corporate and nonprofit sectors, including UranX Group, a cybersecurity acquisition platform focused on building a scalable portfolio through disciplined M&A, and America’s VetDogs and the Guide Dog Foundation, where I lead governance, strategy, and a $20M capital campaign. I have also served as Chair of the Board of Trustees at Excelsior University and continue to support leadership and institutional strategy. In parallel, I have been selected to design, build, and launch Executive in Residence programs across three national business schools, reflecting a focus on developing next-generation leadership and connecting governance with enterprise practice. Earlier in my career, I directed over $200 million in M&A at Xerox, working with senior leadership on acquisition, integration, and portfolio strategy across global markets. I later built and scaled businesses in technology and services, including an AI-focused platform, bringing an operator-informed perspective to board-level decision making. Across my work, I focus on: • Board governance and effectiveness • Capital strategy and investor alignment • M&A and platform growth • CEO support at key inflection points I bring cross-sector pattern recognition spanning corporate, technology, and nonprofit environments, and I am known for providing strategic clarity and independent judgment without becoming operationally embedded. I am an ASAE Fellow (American Society of Association Executives) and have received recognition for advancing governance and leadership, including the ASAE Key Award for Advancing the Association Profession, the AICPA Future of Finance Award, the Distinguished Alumni Award from McDaniel College, and designation as Board Chair Emeritus by Proclamation at Excelsior University. I am particularly interested in board and advisory roles where governance, capital, and strategy intersect to support disciplined growth and long-term value creation.
Experience
Board Member
Apr 2026 — Present · Santa Monica, CA, US
CalCPA Future of Finance Steering Committee
Education
Baltimore Polytechnic Institute
High School, College Prep
1968 — 1972
MIT Sloan School of Management
Master of Business Administration
MIT Sloan School of Management
SEP, Senior Executive Program
1988 — 1988
MIT Sloan School of Management
Senior Executive Program, Organizational Leadership
Duke University - The Fuqua School of Business
Master of Business Administration - MBA, Organizational Leadership
McDaniel College
Bachelor of Arts, Economics
McDaniel College
Bachelor's degree
Duke University - The Fuqua School of Business
MBA
Duke University - The Fuqua School of Business
MBA, Finance
1976 — 1978
MIT Sloan Executive Program
SEP, Organizational Leadership
Duke University - The Fuqua School of Business
Master of Business Administration, Finance, General
McDaniel College
BA, Economics
1972 — 1976
Skills
- Program Management
- Adult Education
- Technology
- Project Planning
- Leadership Development
- Budgets
- Entrepreneurship
- Strategic Partnerships
- Strategic Communications
- Leadership
- Training
- Volunteer Management
- Team Leadership
- Social Networking
- Change Management
- Project Management
- Team Building
- Management
- Program Development
- Public Speaking
- Event Management
- Meeting Planning
- Online Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- Event Planning
- Marketing Communications
- Social Media
- Fundraising
- Marketing Strategy
- Organizational Development
- Nonprofits
- Proposal Writing
- Strategic Planning
- Trade Shows
- Non-Profits
- Email Marketing
- Business Planning
- Integration
- Marketing
- Contract Negotiation
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