Debra Skriba
Vice President
Core Expertise
Debra joined GG+A in 2011, bringing to the firm almost 25 years of experience with principal gifts, major gifts, and foundation and corporate philanthropy with healthcare, cultural, and voluntary organizations.
Recent Accomplishments
Prior to joining the firm, Debra served since 2004 as National Vice President, Major Gifts and Foundation Relations, with the American Heart Association (AHA). At AHA, she was responsible for the development and implementation of the national strategy for major gifts and foundation philanthropy, establishing the first successful program in these areas in AHA’s history, raising a high of $45 million in 2008 and securing other Outright Gifts records for the AHA.
As an executive/frontline fundraiser, she led teams that secured the AHA’s most significant principal and foundation gifts. Debra was the primary author of the AHA’s Major Gifts/Foundation Relations Strategic Plan, which was accepted by the National Board in October 2010. She instituted training programs for major gifts and foundation fundraising, and designed and implemented the infrastructure for these areas, including the introduction of a national development prospect research team and a unit for budget development and financial reporting. She strengthened prospect/donor strategy and stewardship. These programs now are in place nationwide.
Career Snapshot
Debra’s broad experience includes senior leadership and development positions with cultural institutions and for-profit companies. Before joining AHA, Debra served as Vice President, Government and Corporate Relations, with Billingsley Company, a Dallas real estate development company. From 1999 until 2001, she served as Director of External Affairs for The Dallas Opera, and from 1992 to 1998, she served as Executive Director of Sun & Star 1996, a festival of Japanese culture held in the United States that produced more than 60 exhibitions and events in six cities over the course of 100 days with attendance of one million. Sun & Star earned non-profit status in Japan through Keidanren, the Japanese Federation of Economic Organizations, and secured funding equally in the U.S. and Japan, almost entirely through national and international corporate funding. Keizo Obuchi, Japan’s then Minister of Foreign Affairs and later her Prime Minister, recognized Debra for her contributions to mutual understanding between Japan and the United States for this achievement. Debra began her career in institutional fundraising and advancement with KERA, Public Television and Radio for North Texas, where she held increasingly senior positions in programming and development from 1987 to 1992.
Debra pursued a doctoral degree in directing and dramatic criticism and the humanities at Stanford University, where she is ABD (all but dissertation) and then taught in Stanford’s Western Culture Program. She received her bachelor’s degree in English and drama from Clarke College, summa cum laude, and holds a master’s degree in theater history from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Clients
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
- Georgia State University
- The Jackson Laboratory
- Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health
- Mayo Clinic
- University of San Diego
- United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
- Women Thrive Worldwide
