Deborah Edward

Deborah Edward brings extensive nonprofit and cultural arts management and consulting experience to the LBJ School’s RGK Center. She holds a B.A. from Antioch College and a M.Ed. in Special Education from the University of Texas at Austin. Edward received her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Texas. Her career in the nonprofit sector began as evaluation coordinator for the Center for the Development of Nonformal Education which assisted low income Hispanic families with young children. 

Edward was the co-founder and first Executive Director of Austin Children's Museum, which she led for sixteen years. She was also Founding Director of Greenlights for NonProfit Success, which provides management support for Central Texas nonprofits. She has consulted for the National Endowment for the Arts Advancement Program, coordinated the Austin’s Libraries for the Future community strategic planning process, and wass part of the consulting team directing the CreateAustin cultural master planning for the City of Austin. She is helping launch Psychology Beyond Borders, an international NGO bringing research, practice, and policy together to better address the psychosocial impact of disasters, terror and war. 

Edward consults, lectures, writes and teaches on issues of planning, governance, strategic alliances, fundraising, leadership transitions, program evaluation, philanthropy, social innovation, organizational change and cultural arts. She was a Fulbright Scholar in the Czech Republic in 2005 working with museums and NGO's and has worked with community-based programs and arts organizations in Russia and Eastern Europe. Edward’s current community activities include Board Treasurer for NPower Texas, assisting with mediation training, Advisory Board member for the UT Humanities Institute, and volunteering with the Fund for Arts and Culture in Central and Eastern Europe.