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About Our Executive Director
Debbie created PATHS, a 501 (c)(3) organization, in 2004 because of her experiences in putting two very diverse children through the public school system. Her son was in gifted and talented and honors programs throughout his education, and her daughter has been enrolled in Special Education programs since pre-school. Both of her children are now in college, but it was the constant battle to get her daughter an appropriate education that ignited her passion for advocating on behalf of students with physical/cognitive disabilities.
Debbie received her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Arizona State University and holds a Master’s degree in Diplomacy/International Conflict Management from Norwich University. It is the combination of her Master’s studies in rebuilding developing countries mired in conflict and her work on behalf of those with disabilities that has brought Debbie to embark upon her current project, Operation Exceptional Child in Afghanistan.
As the Executive Director of PATHS, Debbie created Operation Exceptional Child – the establishment of a school for boys and girls with disabilities in grades K through 12 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Debbie is also currently working as part of the Afghan Recovery Coalition (ARC), a coalition of NGOs tasked to help rebuild Afghanistan. Both projects are unique and make a good contribution to the hearts and minds campaign in winning over the local population to defeat the enemy and change the tide of the war so that our troops can begin to come home.
Debbie has made several presentations to DC-area Rotary groups on Operation Exceptional Child and completed an interview with Voice of America that was translated into Dari, Pashto, and Farsi when it was broadcast across Asia and Europe. Debbie also presented Operation Exceptional Child at the National Press Club in April 2011. The production of a nationally-syndicated PBS documentary on Operation Exceptional Child is pending.
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