Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois Center for Nonprofit Excellence

Don Gillingham’s life has been shaped and defined by Lutheran Education. Born in Detroit, Don pursued studies at Concordia University and was eventually called into the teaching ministry. Don has held multiple leadership positions in school administration, where he helped to eliminate long term debt, grow endowments and manage expansion of school facilities. In his career he earned a reputation for visioning and presenting the case for Lutheran Schools to the communities he has served and has formed life-long relationships with both colleagues and students. 

Don takes his greatest satisfaction from his role as a mentor, encouraging more than 20 of his peers to become school administrators, primarily in Lutheran Schools. In his free time, Don celebrates his love for our national pastime, baseball. He was a high school state champion and has coached for more than 32 years, helping to secure hundreds of wins, bringing his team to third in the state in 2007. Now retired, Don stays engaged in local civic affairs and serves on both the Triton Board and has served on the Rock Valley College Board. He wishes to continue to pursue exploration of the methods, motivations and objectives of education. Don lives in Rockford with his wife and enjoys spending time with his three adult children and five grandkids. 

Don's areas of skill include:

• Board development
• Mission and Vision development and refinement
• Fund development
• Succession Planning
• Strategic planning including SWOT analysis
• Organizational culture