About the Author


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Deborah Grayson Riegel, MSW, PCC is a certified coach, speaker, and writer who helps people, teams and organizations  get further, faster―and with more fun―through her consulting companies, Elevated Training Inc. and MyJewishCoach.com. Deborah’s clients dramatically improve their presentation, communication, interpersonal, and management skills through her dynamic workshops, keynote speeches, and one-on-one coaching. Deborah’s clients have included American Express, Discover Financial, Monster Worldwide, Pfizer, and the United States Army to Jewish Federations, synagogues, agencies, schools and camps.  Deborah speaks 100 times a year, from her native New York City to Beijing, China and in dozens of cities in between.

Deborah is a visiting Professor of Executive Communication for the Beijing International MBA Program at Peking University, where she teaches senior leaders from multinational corporations how to present themselves and their ideas with polish, passion, and professionalism in the growing global marketplace. Deborah is also the former Director of Education and Training for the Mandel Center for Leadership Excellence at the Jewish Federations of North America, where she designed and developed a full roster of training programs for Jewish professional and volunteer leaders.  

Deborah holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Michigan, a Master’s in Social Work from Columbia University, and is a graduate of both Coach U. and the Coaches Training Institute. Deborah’s unique, energetic, and results-driven style combines her background and experience in coaching, behavioral and cognitive psychology, adult learning, and improvisational comedy, which she performed at some of New York City’s top comedy clubs.

Deborah is a contributor to Choice: The Magazine of Professional Coaching, and writes a bi-weekly online coaching column for the New York Jewish Week, reaching over 160,000 readers. Deborah and her husband Michael are the proud parents of twins, Jacob and Sophie.