Deborah Harrington

Deborah Harrington is an activist and President of the Woods Fund of Chicago. She is responsible for guiding the Fund’s grantmaking and providing leadership, particularly in the foundation’s priority programs of public policy development and community organizing. Deborah is involved in policy at local, state and federal levels and is an appointee of the national Council on Foundation’s Public Policy Advisory Group. She serves on the national steering committee of the Grantmakers Income Security Taskforce, is a member of the regional grantmakers association’s Poverty Taskforce, and the Mayoral Policy Caucus. Ms. Harrington is a board member of several community based and professional organizations. Her service includes vice-chair of Chicago African Americans in Philanthropy and executive board member of Chicago Women in Philanthropy.

Prior to joining the Woods Fund, Ms. Harrington had broad experience in the public sector, having worked over 20 years in the Illinois Department of Employment Security, Department of Public Aid, and Department of Human Services. She was a member of the Governor’s Taskforce for Human Services Reform and worked on the design and implementation of the state’s human services delivery system, and on implementation of the1996 welfare law.

Ms. Harrington has an exceptionally rich community service involvement, including service as a volunteer organizer, extensive work with the Field museum, fair housing auditor for the Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities, facilitator and liaison with the Chicago Neighborhood Policing Program, and serves as mayoral appointee of the Chicago Sister Cities International Program’s Executive Committee.

Ms. Harrington received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology from the University of Illinois with postgraduate study at the University of Ghana in West Africa.