Debbie is originally from Philadelphia but has lived in South Jersey for over 20 years. She is employed at SPAN Parent Advocacy Network, a New Jersey Nonprofit organization whose mission is to empower and support families, and inform and involve professionals interested in the healthy development and education of children and youth. Debbie directs the START Engaging Parents of Students with Disabilities project at SPAN which offers services that support the engagement of families to improve outcomes for students. Parent leaders are encouraged to share their stories through the SPAN Stories Project which collects these stories and uses them to support our policy advocacy work and to showcase the work that we do and the families whose lives we touch.
At home, Debbie is an active community member starting with her involvement in the Home and School Association at her children’s schools and continuing with involvement in the We Are Winslow- Heart and Soul community group where she serves as communications chairperson. We Are Winslow is a community group founded on the principles of inclusive and participatory governance. The group is dedicated to bringing greater unity and inspiring a renewed sense of pride to Winslow Township’s residents by providing an opportunity for ALL members of the community to have a voice in identifying what matters most to them. Storytelling is the primary vehicle that allows the members of We Are Winslow to interact and gather input from township residents.
With storytelling becoming such a focus in both her professional and community work, Debbie jumped at the opportunity to become a Community Scribe and to sharpen both her interview and her storytelling skills. She has learned to value the power of a story to inform, to educate and to activate a public who might otherwise remain unaware of an event, an opportunity, or an injustice and she looks forward to continuing to participate in this discussion of grassroots journalism as a key to a more effective democracy.
