Biography

James Donnelly (“J.D.”) is the Director of Issues & Crisis Management at M Booth. JD leads M Booth issues/crisis management, working closely with account teams to navigate everything from building “brand resilience” to providing trusted foxhole counsel and support.

J.D. has led war rooms for some of the largest U.S. crises in the past three decades. In 30+ years as an issues/crisis specialist, he has supported some of the world’s most respected brands and corporations. 

His counseling expertise includes:  aircraft incidents, alcohol responsibility, animal welfare, banking/commerce issues, change management, consumer health/safety, corporate governance, cybersecurity flashpoints, data breach, data privacy, employee health/welfare, environmental stewardship, event preparedness, facility safety/security, fair housing, higher education challenges, investigative reporting, labor action, litigation, major controversies, marketing scrutiny, online/social networking implications, product quality/reliability concerns and recalls, sexual assault/harassment cases, sports-industry crises, technology failures, tragic events and more.  

J.D. authored the leadoff chapter for the award-winning eBook “The New Rules of Crisis Management” now in its third edition.  He is a frequent industry speaker and panelist, and guest lecturer at Boston University, UNC Charlotte, NYIT and Queens University among others.  

Before joining M Booth, J.D. was a founding member of Ketchum’s first formal Issues & Crisis team and later led one of its largest issues/crisis units.  He is a graduate of Fairfield University with a B.A. in English and a minor in Economics.  

An avid but struggling golfer, James has twice played 100 holes in one day to support an awareness and charity drive for a Charlotte-based domestic violence program, TurningPoint.