Deborah graduated from Syracuse University with a B.S. in Communications and California State University, Hayward with an M.S. in Educational Technology. She spent 23 years at Johnson & Wales University as a faculty member in the Department of Engineering and Design. Prior to JWU, she spent seven years in San Francisco, CA, working as an Account Executive for Gates Group Public Relations and in Palo Alto, CA, as a Project Manager for PC Professional, Inc.