Donalda retired from Gallaudet in 2008 after being a professor of Languages, Literatures and Cultures for more than 30 years. In 2010 Donalda was awarded the highest honor of Professor Emerita, in recognition of her outstanding teaching and service at Gallaudet. Before coming to Gallaudet, Donalda was a high school teacher at the Maryland School for the Deaf, Frederick, from where she graduated. 

Over the years Donalda has served as a member of numerous boards from the National Captioning Inc. for Sports Programming, Austine School for the Deaf, Maryland School for the Deaf, National Association of the Deaf: International Relations, AAAD/US Sports Federation of the Deaf, International Committee of Sports for the Deaf, and Sorenson Consumer Policy Board. 

As a Gallaudet student, Donalda was on both the varsity basketball and varsity swimming teams, helped establish  the Bisonettes Club, an active member of the Phi Kappa Zeta sorority, and editor in chief of the Tower Clock yearbook.

 Donalda currently resides in Florida with her partner, Diane Morton.