Deborah is a coach, speaker, facilitator, and consultant who focuses on leadership and communication. She is an instructor for the Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania and Columbia Business School’s Women in Leadership Program. She is also on the faculty for Duke Corporate Education and Duke’s Fuqua School of Business and has served as a Visiting Professor of Executive Communications at the Beijing International MBA Program at Peking University, China.

Deborah holds a PCC (Professional Certified Coach) credential from the International Coach Federation, as well as a BA in Psychology from The University of Michigan, and an MSW from Columbia University. She is trained in Trauma-Informed Coaching, DiSC, Hogan, Leadership Versatility Index (LVI), Immunity to Change, Positive Intelligence (PQ), Appreciative Inquiry, Hermann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI), Internal Family Systems, and Mental Health First Aid.

Deborah has been a featured expert and a contributor to Harvard Business Review, Inc., The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Forbes, Fast Company, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Psychology Today, and American Express OPEN Small Business Forum. Deborah is the author of “Aim High and Bounce Back: A Successful Woman’s Guide to Rethinking and Rising Up from Failure”, “Tips of the Tongue: The Nonnative English Speaker’s Guide to Mastering Public Speaking”, “Go to Help: 31 Strategies to Offer, Ask for, and Accept Help,” and “Overcoming Overthinking: 36 Ways to Tame Anxiety for Work, School, and Life”.

Deborah brings her warmth and wit to every engagement, as she knows that humor reduces people’s resistance to change. Deborah believes that the most successful leaders are those who balance professional credibility with personal authenticity, combining their deep expertise with transparency about where they need to grow. She and her husband Michael are the proud parents of twins, Jacob and Sophie, and their rescue dog Nash. In her spare time, Deborah reads true crime, grows passion fruits, and shops for throw pillows that she definitely doesn’t need.