Deborah Diamond

As the senior director of engagement and initiatives, Deborah and her team develop and maintain strong relationships with stakeholders in the Third District to better understand how economic conditions affect residents, workers, and small businesses. She also focuses on the “anchor economy” locally and nationally to understand how universities and hospitals shape local economic opportunity.

Before joining the Bank, Deborah led Campus Philly, an economic development nonprofit that pioneered a now national model for engaging and retaining recent graduates in the cities where they studied. In this work, Deborah developed skill in connecting higher education partners with current employment needs and trends, and she has experience in helping regional colleges and universities collaborate effectively. She also built a 50-city national learning network called Young Smart and Local, dedicated to sharing best practices and successful strategies for talent cultivation and retention.

Deborah’s work spans communities locally and across the U.S. and has allowed her to gain unique insights into the needs of diverse constituencies in sustaining local economies. Deborah feels that her role at the Philadelphia Fed allows her to bring both data and community perspective to foster strong regional economies.

Deborah has a doctorate in political science from the University of Chicago, followed by a Mellon postdoctoral fellowship in the Society of Fellows at Columbia University. She has taught at Bryn Mawr College, from which she has an undergraduate degree.