Passionate About Fitness and Wellness, She Motivates Staff to Move Their Bodies

By Nowshin Chowdhury

This story is part of Georgetown Faces, a storytelling seriesthat celebrates the beloved figures, unsung heroes and dedicated Hoyas who make our campus special.

Deona Hatley is the human capital management (HCM) systems trainer for Learning & Development at University Human Resources.

Deona "Dee" Hatley (G'26) doesn't use an alarm clock anymore. She used to hit snooze on her alarm over and over. But now, she wakes up naturally around 5 a.m.

"What wakes me up, honestly, is purpose," she said. "I know I'm supposed to help people reach the best version of themselves, and that could be at work or beyond. That is what makes me get up, get excited to pour into myself and then pour into others after that."

Hatley is the human capital management (HCM) systems trainer for Learning & Development at University Human Resources. Outside of her day job, she's part of the Women's Alliance and Black Diaspora Employee Resource Groups and the Black MBA Association at the School of Business, where she's pursuing her executive MBA (EMBA).

Hatley arrived at Georgetown three years ago as the assistant director of Fitness & Wellness for Campus Recreation.

She launched free group fitness classes, hosted free faculty and staff classes and created a new functional training area. Through her work, Hatley saw an opportunity to support employees' well-being on a broader scale: improving how they learn and navigate the Georgetown Management System (GMS). She transitioned to a new role in HR to do just that.

"I discovered that if I want to actually help out with the well-being of a person, then our systems also need to be well," she said. "I went from addressing wellness on an individual level to realizing I need to address it on an organizational level. When you give people the tools to learn, they can do their jobs well."

That mission has also extended into her EMBA program. Between weekend classes, homework and work, Hatley found herself sitting down a lot. She started a walking challenge with her classmates to make fitness and wellness a priority.

Fast forward to this spring, she launched GU Moves, a walking challenge for staff from the Washington, DC, and Doha, Qatar campuses, as her EMBA capstone. She created live and virtual mobility sessions to encourage staff to move during the workday. The challenges wrapped up on March 31 when staff from both campuses walked together over Zoom simultaneously in different time zones.

Learn more about how Hatley motivates others, her passion for fitness and wellness and what keeps her anchored to Georgetown.

Hatley arrived at Georgetown in 2023 as the assistant director of Fitness & Wellness for Campus Recreation.

Day-to-day, my work is about: Removing friction. I create training content, lead live sessions, hold office hours and support employees when they hit a wall with the system. What I'm really doing is translating something overwhelming into something approachable, so people can get in, get what they need and get back to the work they actually came to Georgetown to do.

Most memorable thing I've done at Georgetown: I created a program manager assistant position for student staff at Yates Field House. During our one-on-one sessions, I would have deep conversations with them. I would often tell them, 'Every single thing that you do in this role, write it down. Let's start looking at job or internship descriptions so you can [see] if you're getting the skills you need for what you want to do long term.'

I got a night and day difference in performance. They were locked in. They started taking the lead on different projects. They were helping me to advance the Fitness and Wellness department in ways I don't think they would have if we didn't attach it to their goal at Georgetown in the first place.

What brings me joy: Moving. At the core, it always boils down to fitness and wellness. Who I am, what I do and how I bring joy to myself and others is really rooted in movement. Outside of school and work, I love to do pilates and cardio boxing. I do strength training when I can and yoga because fitness isn't necessarily just about my job. It's also how I decompress and stay grounded. I feel like I am at my best when I am able to be up and active. I just have a lot of energy.

What my fitness journey has taught me: That tough people can lift tough things, and I apply that same truth to everything hard I face in life. When I lost 55 pounds between 2019 and 2020, the physical change was real, but what it actually gave me was a framework. It showed me what becomes possible when you show up consistently, even when you don't feel like it, even when the progress is invisible, even when the weight is heavier than you expected.

When I was a cheerleader: I cheered at Thornton Township High School, just outside of Chicago. By the time I got to college, my passion shifted from performing to developing others, so I channeled that energy into coaching. While working full-time at Duke University, I coached on the side at the North Carolina Special Olympics. That changed how I think about wellness entirely. Coaching athletes with disabilities pushed me to design movement experiences that truly meet people where they are, not where we assume they should be. That philosophy runs through everything I build today, including GU Moves.

Hatley will graduate from Georgetown's executive MBA program in the School of Business this spring.

What I learned from my EMBA capstone project: People are ready to move. They just need it to be low-barrier [to entry], visible and worth showing up for. What the data confirmed and what the people made me realize is that employees want four things: They want to be well, they want community, they want to be recognized and they want to belong to something bigger than their inbox. GU Moves gave them that in just 30 days, without asking them to overhaul their lives.

Some essentials I keep at my desk: There are a handful of things I keep at my desk that actually are a reminder for me to move. I don't use my desk chair. I have a big Swiss yoga ball that helps me with posture. I always have a water bottle because I know sometimes I'm not hungry, I'm actually thirsty. I also will usually have a little resistance band, so I can do something related to mobility to make sure that I keep the hip pain away. And my phone's reminders to move are also what trigger me to get up and do my walks.

My favorite place on campus: is actually just walking across Georgetown's Hilltop Campus. Once a month on Fridays, our Learning and Development team leads tours for new employees, and we include the Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliation project. That portion of the tour matters to me personally. Georgetown has done meaningful work to acknowledge its history, and helping new employees understand that context on day one feels like an important part of what it means to truly orient someone to this place. Not just the buildings, but the weight and the history they're walking through.

What keeps me coming back to Georgetown: Georgetown is such an amazing place, but you also have to tap into what's at your fingertips. That could be going to the different speakers that we have on campus, the programs that we offer, the TAP benefits.

My boss often says, 'If you get asked to do something, find a way to say yes.' So if you get invited to an event, find a way to say yes. If you get invited to do a walk with a colleague, find a way to say yes. When you say yes to those opportunities, you are building community. You feel like you belong. You feel like you have something that you can anchor to. And that's what has kept me coming back to Georgetown. I feel like I'm part of a community in so many different areas.