Debbie Siegel-Acevedo

Deborah (Debbie) Siegel-Acevedo (she/her) learned through her experience as a member of Beth Emet what it means to be held by community. She is thrilled to help create opportunities for deepened, meaningful connection for others as Director of Community Engagement. She brings to Beth Emet 30 years of experience in nurturing community investment, crafting alliances around complex issues, and building educational programs designed to grow people and organizations in nonprofit, academic, and entrepreneurial settings. The curator of communities at the intersection of learning and creative expression, she is cofounder of SheWrites.com and founder of Girl Meets Voice Inc. and Bold Voice Collaborative. She has held senior leadership roles at The OpEd Project, DePaul University’s HumanitiesX Experiential Humanities Collaborative, and Artists Book House.

Deborah’s Judaic background was forged, among other places, as a camper at Camp Tel Yehudah, a student at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, and a congregant at B’nai Jeshurun on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. She has explored themes of Jewishness, ritual, motherhood, and modernity through her nonfiction writing, which has appeared in venues including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Forward, and Kveller and in her third book, a collection of essays.

A connector of people and ideas, Deborah holds a doctorate in literary studies. She received coach and leadership training through the Coactive Training Institute. She is a Visiting Scholar at Northwestern University and a member of the Curatorial Board for Nonfiction at the Ragdale Foundation. She returned to her native Chicago area after decades in New York City, where she loved the bagels but missed the lake.