Ms. McDonald serves as assistant legal counsel for KCERA management staff and the Board of Retirement. Before joining KCERA in 2024, she was a partner in the Bakersfield office of Borton Petrini, LLP, practicing primarily in personal injury defense litigation. She previously worked for the Kern County Department of Child Support Services as a child support attorney.

Ms. McDonald earned a J.D. from Baylor University School of Law and maintains law licenses in both California and Texas. She earned a B.A. in English and a B.A. in Sociology from the University of California at Riverside.