About Donna Fiala
Donna Fiala moved from the West Side of Cleveland, Ohio to Collier County in 1974 and still lives in the same house. She worked for Naples Airlines/Provincetown Boston Airlines (PBA) for 12 years as the National Sales Manager and later worked at the Marco Island Marriott as an Insurance Sales Manager. Donna became the Director of Community Relations for Naples Community Hospital, and was employed there from 1987 to 2000, representing them in civic associations, service organizations, the health care community, and the business community. She resigned to run for the office of County Commissioner, District 1, and has held that position since.
Donna has 5 children
all of whom graduated from the Collier County Public School System. She has been active in the community, serving as President of the Naples Junior Woman’s Club within a few years of moving to Collier. She became active in the Marco Island Kiwanis Club and Marco Island Chamber of Commerce, East Naples Kiwanis Club, Woman’s Republican Club of Naples Federated, Republican Executive Committee, Naples Press Club President, and Public Relations Association of Collier County (President).
She has served on the Board of Directors for various organizations including
- the Naples Area Chamber of Commerce,
- The Botanical Garden,
- President’s Council,
- Greater Naples Civic Association,
- Golden Gate Chamber of Commerce,
- Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW),
- Council on Aging,
- Collier Naplescape,
- United Arts Council
- and many more.
One of the most challenging opportunities she had was serving as President of the East Naples Civic Association, where the first thoughts of becoming a Commissioner began. Donna became a strong advocate for improving the appearance and impression of her community, bringing landscaping to the medians on U.S. 41 E. and Davis Blvd., upgrading the East Naples Community Park to include picnic benches, a playground (which it never had), ball field, and outside lighting. Her next challenge was to work on Bayshore Dr. to improve the quality of life and appearance of the area. To this day this is still a passion for Fiala.
- She was elected Commissioner of District 1 in 2000 and ran unopposed in 2004 and 2008 for re-election.
- In 2003 and 2008 she served as Vice-Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners and served as the Board’s liaison to the County Government Productivity Committee.
- In 2003 and 2009 she served as Chairman of the Board and the Tourist Development Council. Commissioner Fiala was recently appointed to the Florida Association of Counties (FAC) Board of Directors to help guide the agency in adopting bylaw changes, monitoring finances and making other decisions to direct the association.
She was also recently appointed as a member of the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council (SWFRPC). The Council’s mission is to work together across neighboring communities to consistently protect and improve the unique and relatively unspoiled character of the physical, economic and social worlds we share for the benefit of future generations. It enables local jurisdictions to cooperate in development of such programs and services as transportation planning, land use, economic development, emergency preparedness planning, ecological services, dispute resolution and event coordination.