Donna Childs

Donna Childs founded Prisere LLC to develop capacity for climate and disaster risk resilience, building on her previous experience as a senior executive in the reinsurance industry. Prisere LLC was named one of the 50 most innovative start-ups by Kauffman Foundation during Global Entrepreneurship Week in its first year. 

Donna and Prisere have led projects for the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Asian Development Bank. Donna serves as the risk partnership advisor to the climate change group of the World Bank’s Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery. 

Donna began her career as a research associate at Harvard Business School where she contributed to research and case development on insurance and risk management topics. She then worked on capital strategies and capital raising for global insurance companies as an investment banker on Wall Street. Donna subsequently served as a senior columnist for Dow Jones, where her commentary on insurance and risk were featured in The Wall Street Journal.  

Donna is the author of an acclaimed book on small business disaster preparation and recovery. She is a past winner of the International Women’s Entrepreneurial Challenge and a “Woman Business Owner of the Year” of the National Association of Women Business Owners. 

She holds a B.S. from Yale University, an MBA from Columbia Business School, and is a graduate of the Owner President Management Program at Harvard Business School.