Donna Black On March 23, 2026, Donna Black began her new role as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC). She is the first woman to hold this position in the IAFC's long history. Donne was previously the Deputy United States Fire
Administrator but had been Acting as the United States Fire Administrator since from 2024 to her departure in 2026. This position is the highest-level fire service position in the Federal government and is sometimes (though unofficially) referred to as "America's Fire Chief". Her career in the fire service has been one to admire as she has consistently achieved new heights in positions that have provided opportunities for Donna to lead and continue to move the fire service forward. She has experienced great success in both volunteer and career capacities while serving at the local and federal levels of government. Donna Black began her fire service career in 1997, working as a volunteer and career firefighter. During her nearly three decades of service, she worked her way through the ranks, and in 2006, was selected as the Fire Chief in the town of Duck, North Carolina. Since that time, she has been in significant positions to lead, not only in her own fire department, but in various capacities within other organizations, all the while making a significant impact on the fire service. Donna was elected in 2023 as the President and Board Chair of the IAFC and has been an advocate of collaborative work on several areas of the National Fire Strategy that emerged from the 2022 U.S. Fire Administrator's Summit on Fire Prevention and Control. In 2022, and again in 2023, Chief Black delivered testimony on the impact of wildfires at the Fire Administrator's
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