Deborah has nearly 30 years of experience in national nonprofits, regional organizations, and public and private universities. Most recently she served as Development Director of Lift Orlando. She raised nearly $7 million in 2022 including the organization’s first million-dollar gift from an individual and its largest multimillion-dollar foundation gift. Earlier, from 2020 to 2022, Deborah served as Miami University’s College of Arts and Science’s Senior Major Gifts Officer. As part of a $350M campaign, she cultivated three $1M asks and developed an alumni portfolio of prospects capable of five to six-figure gifts.

From 2014 to 2019, Deborah served as Vice President of Advancement at the University of Charleston. She led and maintained a personal portfolio for a $7.5M annual fund including restricted and endowment fundraising. She also executed a capstone campaign to honor the retiring president, which raised $6.8M in ten months, including two million dollar gifts. Moreover, Deborah planned and executed a $20M campaign, the largest in the university’s history, for their Innovation Center and Sports Complex. The campaign included three million dollar gifts. 

Deborah started her career at Junior Achievement of Central Florida (JACF), where she worked from 1997 to 2014. She held various leadership roles in operations and programming at JACF, ultimately serving as Senior Vice President of Development. In this capacity, Deborah led a team to year-over-year increased fundraising, increased retention of donors, and acquisition of new donors. This included the establishment of individual, major, and planned gift programs to diversify revenue streams. During this time, JACF was recognized as among the top ten Junior Achievement offices nationally, out of over 100 centers throughout the US.