VirtuArte.com

In the early years of her career, Deborah worked at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), an institution that focuses on economic development in Latin America.  This was her first "international" experience, where she found a passion for developing country issues.  Deborah also found out that she loved to travel, and, to date, has visited 63 countries.

Deborah left the IDB after 10 years and began the next phase of her career working for three different multinational corporations, Rhone-Poulenc, Fisher Scientific and GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals (GSK Bio).  Each position she held in these companies enabled Deborah to continue to work internationally on developing world issues and travel extensively.  In her last position with GSK Bio she worked with a number of organizations such as the Gates Foundation, UNICEF, Rockefeller Foundation and various NGOs, to make vaccines available to the least developed countries.

In 2007 changes started taking place at GSK Bio, and during this time Deborah took the opportunity to try and figure out what she really wanted to do next.  She realized she wanted to continue working in the area of  international economic development, be involved in something that would improve the quality of life for women and children and, of course, travel.  Whenever Deborah was visiting a country, she always took the opportunity to look for artwork and crafts that were unique to enjoy herself or give as gifts.

Deborah knew there were beautiful products being created in the developing world, often in remote places, that most people would never have the opportunity to see.  These products are expressions of traditions and customs that, in some places, are slowly dying out because there is insufficient incentive -- economical or cultural -- to pass these traditions/customs on to the next generation.  She decided she wanted to assistance artists/artisans from the developing world create markets for their work in the US, Europe and other high income countries.  VirtuArte was launched in 2009.

Born and raised in San Diego, California, Deborah currently resides in Washington, DC.  She received a BA from the University of California, Los Angeles and a MA from Central Michigan University.