A graduate of Florida public schools and the University of Pennsylvania, Deborah L. Pedraza has spent the last 28 years in educational fundraising and development, actively participating on teams that have raised more than $125 million for academic institutions in Massachusetts, Maryland, and Florida.

Mrs. Pedraza joined Orange County Public Schools in February 2013 as the district’s first Director of Philanthropic Development. She worked closely with the Foundation for Orange County Public Schools to secure resources to implement districtwide initiatives described in the OCPS Philanthropic Strategic Plan. In 2016, she was named Senior Director of the Foundation, then Executive Director in 2020.

A former United Way of Caroline County (MD) board member and long-time member of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, Mrs. Pedraza served for three years as VP-Education on the board of directors for the Central Florida chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. She is a member of CHIEF, the Edyth Bush Institute for Nonprofit Leadership, 100 Women Strong, and the Fellowship of Women Leaders. She is also a certified TetraMap© facilitator and trained in group dynamics.

Mrs. Pedraza lives in Orlando with her husband, Abraham, a design engineer and consultant, and their son David, a student in the Performing Arts magnet at University High School. And last but certainly not least, she is an OCPS volunteer, tutoring first graders at Vista Lakes Elementary School for Read2Succeed and supporting David and his peers at their performances.