Debbie Linick’s federal government and non-profit service spans four decades of work in international diplomacy and federal resource management as well as non-profit advocacy, fundraising, and strategic leadership.
Debbie started her career within the Department of Defense as a Presidential Management Fellow (previously “PMI”). She served as an agreements negotiator for the U.S. Army in Europe (USAREUR) and contingency operations budget director for Operation Enduring Freedom supporting the mission in Afghanistan during 2001-2002. At the United Nations she represented the U.S. position in the working group for contingency operation reimbursement models. Her federal government service culminated in an assignment with the U.S. Department of State, overseeing non-proliferation assistance programs in the Former Soviet Union (FSU). Her government service included projects and travels in Moldova, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Russia, Kosovo, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Haiti, the United Nations, and other deployed environments.
Debbie’s non-profit work includes advocacy, fundraising, strategic leadership, and community relations for a variety of groups with local, national, and international focus. She served for a decade lobbying on behalf of the Jewish community in D.C. and Virginia and overseeing their community relations with interfaith partners, the media, schools, and law enforcement. Debbie chairs a Development Committee for the Educators’ Institute of Human Rights, “Where the world’s teachers partner to end hate,” and co-chairs legislative and regulatory work for the Refugee Physicians’ Advocacy Committee.
She leads partnership and fundraising efforts for Specialisterne North America (SPNA) and Specialisterne Global (SPG) which help expand employment opportunities for neurodiverse individuals. Outside of her day jobs and volunteering, Debbie started “Pictures with Prose,” a digital storytelling and portrait photography service inspired by her work and volunteering with Holocaust and cancer survivors, blended and new immigrant families, as well as many other everyday heroes.
Debbie is a former Dean's Scholar from Georgetown University's School of Business, where she earned her M.B.A. in 1993 and a graduate of Tufts University where she graduated magna cum laude with a major in International Relations and proudly participated in Sherman’s 2 nd Symposium, Foreign Policy Imperatives for the Next Presidency” in 1988. Debbie earned Phi Beta Theta honors for her Associates Degree in Photography in 2015.
Debbie lives in Springfield with her husband Michael. Their many children, biological, adopted, steps and exchanges, are launched around the world. They report their parents as being terrible “empty nesters” as they continue to follow the tradition of Abraham and Sarah in keeping their tent open on all sides to guests for varying stays.