Donna Fiala moved from the West Side of Cleveland, Ohio to Collier County in 1974 and still lives in the same house. She worked for Naples Airlines/Provincetown Boston Airlines (PBA) for 12 years as the National Sales Manager and later worked at the Marco Island Marriott as an Insurance Sales Manager. Donna became the Director of Community Relations for Naples Community Hospital, and was employed there from 1987 to 2000, representing them in civic associations, service organizations, the health care community, and the business community. She resigned to run for the office of County Commissioner, District 1, and has held that position since.

Donna has 5 children, all of whom graduated from the Collier County Public School System. She has been active in the community, serving as President of the Naples Junior Woman’s Club within a few years of moving to Collier. She became active in the Marco Island Kiwanis Club and Marco Island Chamber of Commerce, East Naples Kiwanis Club, Woman’s Republican Club of Naples Federated, Republican Executive Committee, and Public Relations Association of Collier County (President). She has served on the Board of Directors for various organizations including the Naples Area Chamber of Commerce, The Botanical Garden, President’s Council, Greater Naples Civic Association, Golden Gate Chamber of Commerce, Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW), Council on Aging, Collier Naplescape, United Arts Council and many more, but one of the most challenging opportunities she had was serving as President of the East Naples Civic Association, where the first thoughts of becoming a Commissioner began.

Donna became a strong advocate for improving the appearance and impression of her community, bringing landscaping to the medians on U.S. 41 E. and Davis Blvd., upgrading the East Naples Community Park to include picnic benches, a playground (which it never had), ball field, and outside lighting. Her next challenge was to work on Bayshore Dr. to improve the quality of life and appearance of the area. To this day this is still a passion for Fiala. A dream she has been working on is a Bayshore Artists District.


She was elected Commissioner of District 1 in 2000 and ran unopposed in 2004 for re-election. In 2003 she served as Vice-Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners and served as the Board’s liaison to the County Government Productivity Committee. In 2004 she served as Chairman of the Board and the Tourist Development Council.