The White House Experience Advisory Council

White House Experience Advisory Council Members

• 

  Ann Compton, Founding Chair

  Ann Compton made history as the first woman assigned to cover the White House for network television, spending 41 years with ABC News. Throughout her distinguished career, she reported on seven presidents and ten presidential campaigns, traveling globally with White House officials. After retiring in 2014, she returned to cover the 2016 conventions and accepted a fellowship at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She has served as president of the White House Correspondents’ Association and twice as a debate panelist for the Commission on Presidential Debates.

• 

  Diane J. McDonald, Founding Member

  Diane McDonald has had the opportunity to experience life through many lenses. Alongside, her husband Bob McDonald’s career they spent time in the military, the business sector, the government and the philanthropic space. She lived abroad with Procter & Gamble (P&G) for 15 consecutive years in Canada, The Philippines, Japan and Belgium with her family. She was a member of American and International Women’s Clubs. She is currently a member of the Congressional Club. Her degree was in education which she applied to working as a Boy Scout Leader, Girl Scout Leader, PTA officer, Coach, and Sunday School Teacher. In the various locations where they lived, she started a non-profit organization to assist P&G spouses in transitioning and thriving in a new location. Bob and Diane were founding benefactors of the McDonald Conference for Leaders of Character. The conference is held at the United States Military Academy each year and it brings together top undergraduate student leaders from around the globe with senior mentors to begin to solve the world’s knotty problems. Diane enjoys time spent with her husband, her 2 children and 6 grandchildren. Diane and Bob live between Orlando, Florida and Cincinnati, Ohio.

• 

  Debra Principi, Founding Member

  Debra Principi is an award-winning author and storyteller who believes everyone has a meaningful life story to share. After years in the fashion industry with renowned brands like St. John Knits and Carolina Herrera, Debra opened her own boutique, Windswept Clothiers, in Easton, Maryland. Debra is passionate about supporting civic organizations, especially those dedicated to veterans, and she currently serves on the Board of Modern Warrior Live.