In 2022, Deborah was appointed CEO of Entrepreneurship Education Consortium, the Northeast Ohio hub for university-based entrepreneurship, innovation programming and ecosystem development.  Previously, Deborah served as president and CEO of Burton D. Morgan Foundation, a private foundation dedicated to advancing entrepreneurship.  She is a three-term Candid trustee as of 2014.  

Deborah was instrumental in Morgan Foundation’s Northeast Ohio Collegiate Entrepreneurship Program, a Kauffman Campuses℠ Initiative, spreading entrepreneurship across campuses; and in developing NEOLaunchNET, a five-campus programs network supporting student venture creation.  She spearheaded the decision to establish the Entrepreneurship Education Experiment, a research institute that advances entrepreneurship education through leading-edge research and programs. Deborah received the Northeast Ohio EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2014.

From 2013 to 2015, Deborah chaired the Fund for Our Economic Future, a philanthropic collaborative advancing Northeast Ohio’s economic competitiveness. She serves on the boards of the Bounce Innovation Hub, Team NEO, and the Norman Rockwell Museum. She is co-chair of the international Deshpande Symposium focused on entrepreneurship and higher education.  

Deborah earned her B. A. from Williams College, master’s in art history from the University of Chicago, and master’s in cultural history from Kent State University, a J.D. degree at George Washington University and is a member of the bar in the District of Columbia, New Hampshire, and Ohio. She completed Harvard Business School’s "Governing for Non-Profit Excellence Executive Education Program" and “Performance Measurement for Effective Management of Nonprofit Organizations.” She holds an honorary doctorate from Baldwin Wallace University.