Board of Directors
Ms. Richardson is Executive Vice President of the National Center for Civil in Huamn Rights. Prior to joining the Center, she was Chief Program Officer at Women’s Funding Network in San Francisco. A native Atlantan, Deborah was the CEO of The Atlanta Women’s Foundation (AWF);Director of Program Development for Fulton County Juvenile Court; founding Executive Director of the Juvenile Justice Fund and Managing Director of the National Black Arts Festival.
Deborah has been recognized over the years for her community service. She has been given many distinctions such as: The Community Leadership Award by Spelman College Board of Trustees, The Legacy Award by the Juvenile Justice Fund, The Grassroots Justice Award by the Georgia Justice Project, a Woman of Excellence by Business to Business Magazine, Ember Award by Campfire USA, inducted into the YWCA Academy of Women Achievers, the Atlanta Business League 100 Black Women of Influence and the Liberty Bell Award by the Atlanta Bar Association. She is an alumnus of Leadership Atlanta, the Regional Leadership Institute and a recipient of a Harvard Business Club of Atlanta Executive Education Scholarship. She is on the board of the African Women’s Development Fund – USA and a member of the Sister Scholars Advisory Council of the Delta and on the D5 Executive Committee, a coalition among funders to increase equity and diversity in philanthropy.
Deborah is a nationally recognized leader on social justice for women and girls and an advocate against child sex trafficking. She has designed leading programs for girls victimized by commercial sexual exploitation and is the co-author of “Ending Sex Trafficking of Children in Atlanta” (Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work, Spring 2007). In 2010 Deborah testified during the “Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking” hearing of the U. S. Congress Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. She is a national spokesperson for A Future. Not a Past., a campaign to stop the prostitution of our nation’s children and a frequent contributor to Huffington Post.
