Mary Donahue is Senior Vice President, Non-Fiction at Lifetime, a position she assumed in September 2013.  In that capacity, she is responsible for oversight of all current series, including new series Kim of Queens and Bring It.  She also supervises a team of programmers, continues to develop projects and is part of the network’s senior strategic team.

Prior to joining Lifetime, Donahue served as VP, Development and Production at History.  In that role, she oversaw programmers and also developed and supervised some of History’s highest rated hits. Known as a hands-on executive, she was part of the team that developed and launched the mega hit, Pawn Stars; she served as its executive producer for over 200 episodes and developed spinoffs Counting Cars, American Restoration and Cajun Pawn Stars. She also developed and supervised the breakout hit Swamp People, as well as the top rated special Gettysburg, nominated for eight Emmys and winner of four. She also developed current hit, Appalachian Outlaws.

Prior to joining HISTORY, Donahue worked from 2004-2008 at Discovery Channel, serving as Executive Producer, Senior Executive Producer and Vice President. Specializing in character driven series, she developed and launched a broad array of shows, including Man Vs. Wild, Storm Chasers, Cash Cab, Alaska Experiment and Future Weapons, as well as the Emmy nominated Expedition series with the BBC Natural History Unit. Donahue also oversaw Mythbusters and Dirty Jobs, growing ratings on both high profile series. She also supervised stunts, including several of the top rated years of Shark Week.

Donahue produced for a wide range of organizations and programs, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, where she was a producer/field director for six years. Donahue also worked for ABC News, NBC News, USA Today and CNN. She also served as a show runner on TLC’s A Wedding Story, guiding that long-running series to its first ever live event and its first Emmy nomination and win.

She is a cum laude graduate of Williams College and holds MA degrees in American Studies with a specialty in film studies from both Boston University and The University of Sussex in Brighton, England, where she was a Rotary scholar.

Donahue has been nominated for seven Emmys and won four times. Programs she developed have earned 19 Emmy nominations in various categories. 

Speaking on: Luncheon Roundtables