As Senior Vice President for Technical Leadership, Deborah oversees the specialized expertise of our thematic and sectoral work in a range of global issues, including health, humanitarian, environment, democracy, media sustainability, technology, film and gender equality as well as new pilots and initiatives; global impact measurement; research & learning; and knowledge management. Deborah originally joined Internews as Country Director in Sudan in 2008, where she helped build a network of community radio stations across the country, and trained local journalists to run them. As Regional Director for Africa, she developed and oversaw projects in Sudan, DRC, Chad, Central African Republic, Mali, Niger, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Haiti. As Vice President for Africa, Health and Humanitarian Media Programs, she 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.

Deborah lived for 14 years in East Africa, where she designed and implemented numerous projects dealing with media, refugees, education, gender, HIV and sexual violence, including living for several years in a remote Kenyan community as a Peace Corps volunteer, providing home-based care and death and dying support for those affected by HIV/AIDS. She has also 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.