Debra is IGNITE's Director of Institutional Giving. She has over two decades of expertise in grant writing, technical writing, curriculum writing, and teaching in the Education, Technology, and Nonprofit sectors. Debra was a high school Language Arts teacher prior to becoming a founding staff member of Year Up Bay Area (now Year Up San Francisco), where she helped to ensure equitable access to meaningful employment in technology for young adults. She worked as a grant writing consultant before being enticed into full-time foundations work for the Bay Area’s LitLab.

At IGNITE Debra identifies opportunities, develops funding plans, manages projects, and blends deep research with compelling narratives to move our country toward gender equity. She sees her role as that of a storyteller, connecting philanthropic organizations with the work of IGNITE and our participants to help them reach their funding goals. She believes IGNITE will continue to bring us closer to manifesting a world in which gender equity is the norm.

Debra lives in Portland, Oregon with her family and her pet bird.