Deborah Copeland

Deborah Copeland has spent her career in the nonprofit sector working with multiple populations toward the goal of a brighter future. Prior to returning to DRTC, she served as the Chief Operating Officer of Sunbeam Family Services providing operational and program leadership in early childhood education, foster care, senior services and counseling services. During her tenure at Sunbeam, she led the agency in the implementation of agency-wide performance and quality improvement systems, and data-driven programs. Deborah has also served as the Assistant Director of Adult Education at Oklahoma City Community College.

Deborah began her career more than 25 years ago in direct care, case management, and program management in New Mexico providing residential and vocational rehabilitation services for adults with a disability. Deborah considers this experience foundational as it was a time of radical change for people with disabilities who were leaving institutional placements and moving to community programs following the NM Jackson Compliance ruling, as well as the Hissom lawsuit in Oklahoma in the late 1980s which resulted in a similar verdict.

After returning to Oklahoma in 1996, Deborah began her journey with DRTC spending more than 14 years with the agency. Copeland directed the human resources team through the startup of several federal contracts at Tinker Air Force Base, downtown OKC and the FAA Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center before leaving the agency in 2014.