Michelle O'Donnell

Michelle O’Donnell is The Dementia Dame.

She began her professional career as a journalist back in the day when manual typewriters, copy boys and cigar smoke were commonplace in newsrooms. She worked as a reporter and editor at several major U.S. newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, where she was part of two Pulitzer-Prize winning teams. She has worked both side of the grants world, giving money away and begging and pleading for funding for nonprofits. A native New Yorker, she has a BA in Sociology from The City College of New York and now calls New England home.

In 2014 her husband, Martin, was diagnosed with dementia. "Dementia Dame" debuted on Facebook in May 2016 as a way for Michelle to rant. She found other like-minded ranters, who were angry, sad, confused and pissed at the disease that had befallen their loved ones and had changed their lives just like that! What started as a rant became a judgement-free community where people can vent, share, laugh, cry and grieve.

Martin passed away in June 2017.