Sheila McDonald, an attorney with the Firm’s Government Relations practice, utilizes her vast experience in State government, especially with the Board of Public Works and in procurement and capital budget matters, to assist our Firm clients.
For more than two decades, McDonald had an insider’s view into the State Capitol where she was the longest-tenured Executive Secretary serving the Board of Public Works, an institution unique in this country. She sat with the Governor, Comptroller, and Treasurer every two weeks for 25 years. Interacting with four governors, four comptrollers, and three treasurers over that span, McDonald prepared and defended the record for them as they made decisions affecting all facets of Maryland life.
McDonald became the Board Secretary after her appointment as its first independent General Counsel. Previously, she had served as an assistant attorney general for the Maryland Attorney General; practiced law at a Washington, DC law firm and in-house at a Maryland manufacturer; and clerked for a District of Columbia Court of Appeals judge.
McDonald graduated from Johns Hopkins University (1979) and from the Catholic University Law School (1982). Her nonprofit work includes serving on the Board of Directors of The Board of Child Care, and previously, The Balanced Mind Foundation, a children’s mental health advocate, for eight years (three years as Board President). She is a Leadership Maryland (2003) alumna. McDonald grew up in Washington, DC, lived for many years in Baltimore City, and currently resides with her husband in Annapolis.