Deborah Gagnon serves as the CFO and Operations Manager, overseeing all financial activities and decisions. In addition, she leads all 911TI operations, including design of customer services, contract management and logistical support for 911TI faculty and partnering agencies. She coordinates organization and planning to optimize operations. She also fulfills information requests from 9-1-1 communication managers and conference organizers. Deborah manages all 911TI contracts, ensuring our hosts and sponsors enjoy the partnership in bringing 911TI faculty to events.

Prior to serving at 911TI, Deborah worked at the University of Illinois, Chicago, for several years as a Masters-Level Certified Genetic Counselor. She specialized in, and coordinated clinics for, pediatric metabolic diseases and cranio-facial genetics, as well as adult onset neurological genetic disorders. She regularly presented on various topics to the medical residents at UIC, and presented her Master's research on Gaucher Disease at the National Institutes of Health in Washington D.C.. She has been published in the Journal of Genetic Counseling and the American Journal of Human Genetics.
 
Deborah was instrumental in starting a faith-based high school in Northern Michigan and served for several years on their Board of Directors. In addition, she also owns her own Financial Services business, primarily meeting the billing, bookkeeping, payroll and financial management needs of mental health professionals. She previously served as Office Manager and biller for a group of psychologists in Northern Michigan. These experiences and connections in the mental health field, as well as her counseling experience, have allowed her insight into 911TI's niche: mental health resilience.
 
Deborah holds a Master of Sciences degree in Genetic Counseling from the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology with a concentration in Genetics and Development from Cornell University.