Joe Donzelli, APR, APIO, is the Public Information Officer for the Town of Pembroke Park, Florida.
In this role, he is responsible for the development, management, and implementation of communications and media relations strategies in alignment with the Town of Pembroke Park’s strategic priorities. In addition, he provides oversight and guidance in developing the overall messaging and positioning that is external facing for surrounding communities. As the Town’s Public Information Officer, Donzelli is the initial point of contact for the news media, creating and maintaining effective relationships with reporters and editors.
Donzelli has more than 30 years of experience in the communications field. Before joining the Town of Pembroke Park, he served as the Senior Director of Public Relations and Communications for Broward College. Prior to that, he was an Associate Director and Senior Writer, Public Relations at Nova Southeastern University's (NSU), where he worked directly with faculty and researchers to publicize their achievements. In that role, he secured multiple national media placements (i.e., The Today Show) as well as international media coverage. He was also the main crisis communications / public information officer for the university.
Before heading to NSU, Donzelli was the Director of Communications and Printing Services for the School District of Lee County, Florida (Fort Myers,) which, at the time, was the ninth-largest public school system in the state and 40th largest in America. Before that, he was a Communications Specialist with the School District of Broward County, Florida (Fort Lauderdale) where he co-led the internal and external communication efforts for the nation's sixth-largest public school system. And prior to that, Donzelli was an assistant reporter for the South Florida Sun Sentinel newspaper, where he covered K-12 education and freelanced for the Sports Department whenever he could.
Donzelli has extensive experience serving as the main spokesperson for media interaction, including crisis communication. He has received numerous certifications in the area of crisis and emergency communications, preparedness, information management, resource management and incident command from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). He earned the FEMA basic and advanced Public Information Officer certification as well as earning his Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and Accreditation for Public Information Officer (APIO) from the Center for Public Service Excellence. He is a member of the Southeast Regional Domestic Security Taskforce (Joint Media Group), the South Florida Media Coalition and the PIO Deployment Team.
Donzelli earned his associate degree in communications from Broward (Community) College and his bachelor’s degree in communications from Florida Atlantic University (where he wrote for FAU's student newspaper). He is also a proud graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale.