Our Staff

Chief Executive Director

A graduate from UNC-Wilmington, Debbie earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Entrepreneurship. She spent 16 years in the technology industry working as a Corporate Trainer, Software Conversion Implementation Specialist, and the Sales & Training Director at a large corporate training company in Research Triangle Park. In 2006, she opened a community minded cafe in Wilmington, NC whose mission was to help people make connections with one another.  The café sponsored many community events, some of which focused on homelessness in our area. During that time, she began volunteering for a recovery ministry working with women struggling with substance use.  In 2010, she became the Care Coordinator at a local church where she coordinated the counseling and care for their congregation. She continued her work in addiction and recovery by being an integral part of managing their recovery ministry. When Wilmington became known as the number one city in America for opioid use disorder, she became involved in developing strategies to respond and combat this devastating epidemic. She was instrumental in coordinating events that brought together local addiction and recovery organizations to share their resources.  She has been the Executive Director of Tides-Wilmington since it began in 2018 and was promoted to corporate management in 2022 as the Chief Executive Director.