Joe Donzelli, APR, APIO, is Broward College’s Senior Director, Public Relations and Communication.

In this role, he is responsible for the development, management, and implementation of communications and media relations strategies in alignment with the College’s strategic priorities. In addition, he provides oversight and guidance in developing the overall messaging and positioning that is external facing for surrounding communities and marketing campaigns. Working with his colleagues, Donzelli oversees guidelines and policies set for messaging, and provides quality control for communications programs. He is also the College’s public information officer and is the main point of contact for the news media, creating and maintaining effective relationships with reporters and editors.

Donzelli, who is a Broward College alumnus, has more than 30 years of experience in the communications field.

Prior to joining the Seahawk family, 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. 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 is 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, Public Information Officer from the Center for Public Service Excellence.

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.