Joel McDonald (He/Him) was a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was baptized at 17 while his family lived in Okinawa, Japan. At 19, he served as a full-time missionary in the Colorado Colorado Springs Mission, returning home in 2006. In 2008, Joel resigned from the Church. In 2009, he came out as gay. He found Affirmation in 2015.
Joel McDonald served as Affirmation’s online content manager and then director of operations from 2017 to 2023. In these roles, Joel worked to improve Affirmation’s web presence, organize Affirmation’s data, automate and streamline administrative processes, provide training and support to community leaders, and plan and execute fundraising campaigns. He also collaborated with the Affirmation Executive Committee, Board of Directors, Officers, and other committees to develop a strategic plan, plan and execute conferences and other events, develop the annual budget, establish new financial policies, publish the Affirmation Community Leaders Guide, and much more.
Joel is the web manager for a national nonprofit serving peer support professionals, owns and operates a small business providing web design, development, hosting, and consulting services to small-to-medium-sized businesses and organizations, and is finishing a master’s degree in public administration with a concentration in nonprofit management at Old Dominion University.