Is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Excelencia in Education. She believes in the power of higher education to link opportunity and talent. For more than 20 years, she has led efforts from the community to national and federal levels to improve educational opportunities and success for all students. She co-founded Excelencia to inform policy and practice, compel action, and collaborate with those ready to increase student success. Among her contributions, Deborah created Examples of Excelencia to identify and recognize what works for student success and developed the Seal of Excelencia certification framework for institutions that go beyond enrolling to intentionally serving Latino, and all, students. Her work has been cited in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. Deborah serves on the Advisory Board of TheDream.US.