CEO and House Legal Counsel
American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA)
Donald A. Balasa, JD, MBA, serves as the CEO and legal counsel of the American Association of Medical
Assistants®. His areas of legal specialization include not-for-profit governance, professional credentialing
and regulation, and antitrust principles applicable to certifying and accrediting bodies.
Balasa served as chair of the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) and as vice chair of the
committee to update the Institute for Credential Excellence (I.C.E.) publication ICE 1100:2019—Standard
for Assessment-Based Certificate Programs, which is an American National Standard. He was elected to
the board of directors of the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs
(CAAHEP) in 2018 and as president of CAAHEP in 2021.
Balasa received both his baccalaureate and law degrees from Northwestern University and his MBA in
economics from the University of Chicago. He was awarded the Certified Association Executive (CAE)
credential from the American Society of Association Executives. Balasa has taught a course on
association management at the DePaul University Kellstadt Graduate School of Business and teaches
constitutional law evening courses at Trinity International University.
Monday, March 20, 2023
1:45 PM – 2:45 PM ET