About Debra

I was born in Catonsville, Maryland, just outside of Baltimore. My mother died of cancer when I was four and I grew up in a home with my dad, stepmother, and two half-siblings. I moved to our Newton home in 1993 with my husband Justin and our infant daughter - and we had a son five years later. Our daughter is grown and has moved from home -  but had an excellent K-12 education in the Newton Public Schools, graduating from Newton South. Our son is still in college and lives at home part of the time. We are grateful and thankful for all Newton has given us.

I graduated from Woodlawn Senior High School in Maryland, the school made infamous by the podcast “Serial.” I also received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University, a Master of Fine Arts in Playwriting from Brandeis University, and have completed the course work, but not the thesis, for a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. I was an engineer for thirteen years in the thermal engineering and hardware design departments at Digital Equipment Corporation and I worked for 17 years in banking risk management, primarily in market risk, which is the study of market pricing and market price movements. I was Vice-President and Director of Risk Analytics at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston for 4 years  - and Vice-President and Senior Market Risk Officer at Sovereign/Santander Bank for 6 years. I am semi-retired, but occasionally do contract projects. My strengths are data analysis and the use of data to make reasoned decisions.

I am a lifelong moderate Democrat, except for the year that I worked on Eliot Richardson’s Senate campaign in 1984, because I had admired his principled actions during the Watergate crisis. I also know what it’s like to be a full-time working mom with a long commute, complicated children’s schedules, and zero spare time. As your City Councilor, I will work hard to balance your current everyday needs with a responsible future plan based on a clear view of the facts, not an inflexible faith in my own personal ideology.