Debra Nakatomi is president of Nakatomi & Associates, a strategic communications firm she founded in 1989 and a leader in communications initiatives at the nexus of issues advocacy, community engagement and philanthropy. The firm addresses issues that impact diverse populations including: access to quality health care, chronic disease screening/prevention, sexual and domestic violence, teen pregnancy prevention, literacy, justice and equity issues.

Debra brings extensive experience in communications planning, messaging, policy and media advocacy and engaging communities serving mission-driven organizations including philanthropy, non-profit, public and the private sector clients.

The firm has led successful communications initiatives and social marketing campaigns for the State of California, The California Wellness Foundation, Casey Family Programs, The California Endowment, Freddie Mac, Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs, the James Irvine Foundation and Peace Over Violence.

Debra serves on the board of directors of Girl Scouts of the USA and is international commissioner serving the global girls' movement, board member of the Little Tokyo Service Center, a Community Development Corporation, and member of the National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers (NNCG). She is former board chair of the Los Angeles Women's Foundation and the Asian Pacific Women's Leadership Institute and received the "Changing the Face of Philanthropy Award" from the Women's Funding Network.

Debra received a Bachelor of Arts from California State University, Sacramento and attended the UCLA Management Development Program. She is an alumni of the Asian Pacific American Women's Leadership Institute, Gallup Leadership Institute and the Japanese American Leadership Delegation.