Deborah L. Plummer, PhD, is a psychologist, author, and speaker on topics central to racial equality, inclusion, and mutual respect. She is most passionate about creating inclusive organizations and building peaceful communities. Debbie draws her energy from engaging others in workshop settings, in-home book salons, community classrooms, and through her writings and blog posts. As an academic, she continues her research on diversity metrics and cross-racial friendships while facilitating discussions forwarding a relational model for managing the dynamics of differences. She is the lead author in the design and development of the Diversity Engagement Survey (DES), a tool for measuring diversity and inclusion in organizations. 

Debbie has held past roles as an academic medical center vice chancellor, hospital system chief diversity officer, staff psychologist, tenured psychology professor, and founding director of a graduate degree program in diversity management.  In 2016, Debbie was named by Becker’s Hospital Review as one of the Top 15 Chief Diversity Officers to Know. She lives in Cleveland, Ohio with her husband, Michael Bussey and makes her second home in the Greater Boston area where she cherishes her work with Facing History and Ourselves, a non-profit, international educational and professional development organization, and is a proud board member of GrubStreet, a leading narrative arts center located in Boston. In her next life, she plans to come back as a master chef (think Ina Garten) or a singer, dancer and entertainer (think Beyonce).