As Senior Vice President for Strategy, Impact & Learning, Deborah is responsible for the design, implementation and oversight of Internews’ Strategy. She joined Internews as Country Director in Sudan in 2008, where she helped build a network of community radio stations across the country. As Regional Director for Africa, then Vice President for Africa, Health and Humanitarian Media Programs, she developed and oversaw projects in Sudan, DRC, Chad, Central African Republic, Mali, Niger, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Haiti, and built the capacity of Internews to respond globally in humanitarian emergencies. From 2013-2017, she returned to South Sudan, where she served as Chief of Party on Internews’ largest media development and humanitarian project. After living and working in East Africa for 14 years, Deborah returned to the US serving in several headquarter leadership positions. 

Prior to joining Internews, Deborah designed and implemented numerous projects dealing with media, refugees, education, gender, HIV and sexual violence in the East Africa region, including living for several years in a remote Kenyan community as a Peace Corps volunteer, providing death and dying support for those affected by HIV/AIDS. Previously, she worked for 15 years as a journalist, including as editor in chief for The Taos News, one of the largest community newspapers in the United States, and as a reporter at several major metropolitan dailies, including the San Diego Union Tribune. Deborah holds a Master’s degree in Journalism and Human Rights from Columbia University.