Meet Deborah

A life shaped by service

Deborah grew up in a family rooted in faith, education, and service. Her father was a minister and corrections officer, and her mother spent decades as an educator. Their example taught Deborah that leadership begins with caring for people and following through.

Her determination is personal. As a single mother, Deborah raised three children through financial hardship and periods of housing instability. She knows what it means to keep going when the path is uncertain, to rely on a community, and to make sure other people do not have to face a hard problem alone.

Helping move Chicago

Deborah began working at the Chicago Transit Authority in 1991. She served in nearly a dozen roles — including conductor, flagman, ticket agent, switchman, right-of-way janitor, supervising coordinator and operator before retiring in 2023. She learned the system from the ground up and became the first woman assigned to CTA's mobile power-washing operation, doing the same physically demanding overnight work as an all-male crew.

Her coworkers trusted her to represent them. Deborah served as Secretary-Treasurer of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 308 and later as President of the ATU Illinois Joint Conference, representing thousands of transit employees across Illinois. Her leadership focused on the working conditions that directly affect public service: safer workplaces and a trained, stable workforce for the people responsible for keeping Chicago's buses and trains running. She took those concerns directly to management and public officials and became the first woman and first African American elected to lead ATU Illinois Joint Conference.

Showing up in public service

Her work has continued in public service and civic life. As Senior Advisor of the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office, she helps communities connect with state resources and opportunities and builds relationships across government, business, labor, faith-based and community organizations. That work has included helping move forward a bipartisan housing-investment initiative supporting a 635-unit development at 400 N. Lake Shore Drive. Beyond state government, she helped bring back the Chicago River Swim after years of effort with a bold fundraising commitment of $50,000 for swim lessons in underserved communities.

Deborah is running because the 42nd Ward is both an economic center and a neighborhood, and City Hall cannot lose sight of either. Downtown must continue to be an economic engine for Chicago and the entire state, but it is also where people live, raise families, work, and build small businesses. Visitors matter, but the people who call this ward home can never be an afterthought. They deserve an alderperson focused on their daily quality of life: whether they can sleep at night, ride the CTA, walk safely, get dependable city services, and receive an answer when they ask for help.

Deborah believes representation starts with being present. People have shown up for her, she has shown up for them, and now she is asking the 42nd Ward to show up for one another. She will bring that same energy, accessibility, and refusal to give up to City Hall.