Background

Donna Abernathy found her first post-college communications position by reading the engagement announcements. When she learned that a communications specialist at Tennessee Farmers Cooperative (TFC) was marrying and relocating, Donna quickly moved to convince the right people she was the person to fill the vacancy.

With a brand-new University of Tennessee communications degree in hand, she started work the Monday after graduation in March 1984—and she’s still a cooperative communicator. Donna worked for TFC for more than four years and then did a brief stint as a co-op advertising specialist with one of the nation’s leading retailers.

In 1990, she founded DLF Communications Services, a marketing communications firm based in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Her client list includes some of the nation’s largest cooperatives for which she writes, edits and designs publications. She joined the Cooperative Communicators Association in 1984 and has served as editor of CCA News since 2000.

When not at work, she and husband Scott, a real estate broker, can be found on the sidelines at various middle Tennessee ball fields and gyms, supporting son Alex, who plays baseball, basketball, and football.

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