Nancy Donley
President, S.T.O.P. - Safe Tables Our Priority
Mother of Alex, 1987-1993

About the Speaker

Nancy Donley has held the volunteer position of President of S.T.O.P. - Safe Tables Our Priority since 1996.

Donley first became involved in food safety after the death of her only child, 6-year-old Alex, from Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome caused by E. coli O157:H7-contaminated hamburger. Alex's death occurred in July 1993, six months after the Jack-in-the-Box E. coli O157:H7 epidemic that killed an identified four children and sickened 700, catapulting food safety to worldwide attention.

Shortly after her son's death, donley was introduced to S.T.O.P. and became the spokesperson and project leader in working on the development of the Pathogen Reduction/Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (PR/HACCP) regulation that was promulgated by USDA. The rulemaking process necessitated two years of traveling to Washington, DC on a nearly bimonthly basis to attend public meetings as the policy was being debated and developed. The outcome, while far from perfect, required for the first time ever, that companies that slaughter meat and poultry to conduct microbial testing and meet microbial performance standards.

Donley was appointed to the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection by Secretary of Agriculture Daniel Glickman in 1996 and is serving her third appointment. She has won numerous awards for her efforts in developing stronger food safety regulations and for raising public awareness, including the first-ever Golden Carrot Award from Consumer Federation of America given to a non-elected public official, and the Civil Justice Foundation Community Champion Award.

Donley is a licensed real estate broker in Illinois. She has a BS in Marketing from DePaul University.