Debbie is a founder development strategist and nonprofit executive who builds ecosystems where entrepreneurs survive, scale, and exit. As Executive Director of Lighthouse Network and Managing Director of Lighthouse Network Ventures, she leads one of Virginia's most active startup support organizations, a 13-year-old institution that has backed 153 companies, facilitated 17 exits, and helped founders raise more than $500 million in capital. In her two years at the helm, she has expanded the organization's programming, launched its ventures arm, and deepened its capital access infrastructure across the state.
Debbie is equally at home designing accelerator programming as she is structuring investment vehicles, writing for funders, or making the case for a community's innovation potential to the people who hold the checkbooks. She has led competitive government contract proposals, built SPV infrastructure from scratch, managed complex funder relationships, and developed programming that meets founders where they are from idea stage to exit. Her work lives at the intersection of capital strategy, program design, and the very human work of helping organizations grow beyond what they thought was possible.
She takes on select consulting, fractional leadership, and grant strategy engagements for organizations that are ready to stop playing small. Whether you need someone to step in and run the ship, build a fundraising strategy with teeth, or help your team think bigger about what founder support can look like, Debbie brings the drive, the relationships, and the operational experience to get it done.More...