39
Ideagen Intersection
Integration & Mission
An Interview with
Kevin Donnellan of AARP
Kevin is the Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff for AARP. Prior to becoming Chief of Staff, he served 8 years as AARP's Chief Communications Officer. Under his leadership, AARP has become a 21st century media conglomerate, destroying the myth that Americans age 50-plus are not wired to new communication. Holmes Report named him as one of their Influence 100, the world's 100 most influential corporate communicators from 2011-2013.
Kevin Donnellan:
I worked on Capitol Hill before coming to AARP. When I worked on the Hill, I spent a lot of time focusing on aging issues. Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro's congressional district had one of the oldest aging populations in the country. We spent a lot of time working on aging issues. That's where I got into aging issues. When I decided to leave the Hill, I was attracted to AARP because of their mission. I have to say, when I got here I thought, I'll do this for a couple of years and then I'll try something else. Here I am, 30 years later, still at AARP.
The main reason I'm here...Well, there are actually two. One is, again, the mission of the organization. It's a fantastic mission. As I said earlier, I love what I do and I think that's important. I think you have to believe in what you do and want to get up and go to work every day and feel like you're making a difference, and I do. Secondly, we have an absolutely fantastic staff here at AARP. Unbelievable professionals who are all very much dedicated to the mission of the organization and that makes this a great organization. That's why I joined AARP. That's why I was inspired to join here, and that's why I've been inspired to stay.
George Sifakis:
Kevin, that's amazing. You know, 30 years later, that's an inspiration at its best.
Kevin:
The gentleman that hired me at the time said, "Two years. I'll give you two years." Here I am, 30 years later.
George:
That is incredible. A perfect segue again into, how did your role as the chief communications officer at AARP prepare you to become the executive vice president and now chief of staff? What key lessons and vantage points helped you carry out this successful mission?
Kevin:
I think part of what prepared me actually, I guess, to be chief of staff of this organization is that I have worked in and managed many parts of this organization over my 30 years here. I have a very good perspective on the breadth of work, at least I think I do, that AARP is engaged with. Then again, having been the chief of communications officer, there are certain skills and disciplines that are there that I think are very successful for me carrying out this role as well.
There are really, I guess, three that come to mind. One is the need to integrate.
When I was our chief communications officer, the group that I helped build there was an integrated communications team. Most of our communications and communications related functions in the organization prior to that had been spread out all over the organization and they weren't terrible integrated.
It was to really build the strong integrated communications team and to bring it into the 21st century, which I think we did and we've done fairly successfully. So integration's a big part of that, getting all sorts of folks to work together. The other is to really focus on the mission. I am a very mission-driven individual and this is very much a mission-driven organization.
"everything we do is about the mission"