Deborah Moroney

Deborah Moroney has extensive work experience in the field of youth development and community development. From 2011 to the present, they have been the Vice President at the American Institutes for Research, where they lead the Youth, Family, and Community Development program area. In this role, they are responsible for overseeing more than 100 projects that focus on providing research and evaluation evidence for policy, practice, and systems change applications.

Prior to their current position, Deborah worked as a Clinical Faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago from 2009 to 2011. Their responsibilities included developing the curriculum and fieldwork experience for students in the Youth Development graduate degree program. Deborah primarily focused on graduate course instruction and student advising.

During the period of 2006 to 2011, Deborah worked as an Independent Research and Evaluation Consultant. In this role, they provided executive and organizational consulting for youth service organizations and education agencies. Their work included designing and implementing comprehensive quality improvement strategies, conducting evaluations, facilitating partnerships, and providing staff development.

From 2005 to 2010, Deborah served as an Adjunct Faculty at Columbia College Chicago. Deborah taught graduate courses and provided thesis advising in subjects such as Applied Youth Development, Curriculum Development, and Applied Marketing Analysis.

In 2004, Deborah worked as a Senior Consultant at The Chicago Center for Child Welfare Strategies. Their responsibilities included program consultation on strategic visioning and market analysis, focusing on program evaluation and best practice replication.

Earlier in their career, from 2000 to 2006, Deborah held various positions at The Youth Campus, starting as a project manager and eventually becoming the Director of Community Based Programs. In this role, they managed staffing and budgets for various community-based initiatives, including afterschool programs, hospital-based programs, and home-based respite programs. Deborah also developed and grew community-based programs, such as an arts program for children in substitute care.

Before their work at The Youth Campus, Deborah served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bakou, Benin, from 1998 to 2000. Their primary projects involved facilitating women's groups, developing environmental education initiatives, and implementing train-the-trainer learning opportunities. Deborah secured funding from USAID for projects while in the Peace Corps.

Deborah Moroney completed their education at various universities. Deborah earned a Bachelor's degree in Conservation Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the years 1993 to 1997. In 1996, they obtained a Certificate in Field Research from Boston University, specifically from the School for Field Studies. Later on, they pursued a Master of Education (M.Ed.) in Special Education at the University of Illinois Chicago, from 2000 to 2003. Finally, they achieved a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Education from the same institution, completing their studies from 2005 to 2011.