Debra joins us following eight years as Head of Marketing and Development with our friends at Bell Shakespeare and brings a wealth of fundraising experience. During her time at Bell Shakespeare, Debra introduced their Annual Giving Day, launched a unique new giving circle, Stranger Companies, and turned their Annual Gala into an unmissable annual event, amongst an array of other achievements. We sat down with Debra to discuss what you most need to know about her as our new Director of Philanthropy & Government Relations, her journey into fundraising, the power of storytelling, and what inspires her most about the arts.
Most fundraisers do not set out to be fundraisers, they tend to find their way into it. How did your career in fundraising begin, and what has kept you in the field?
My career started in corporate partnerships at English National Ballet in London. I had studied marketing and commerce but found a home in the arts. I loved this role because I could work across a diverse portfolio of partnerships and find creative ways to meet a range of different objectives, through unique activations and campaigns. But I also found I was meeting many like-minded ballet lovers who were supporting us for personal reasons. They believed in the importance of the arts and the company and wanted to contribute in some way to ensuring we could thrive. This I found very inspiring and still do. It is a nice feeling to be a part of a larger community of people who want to lift a company up together, and that is what philanthropy helps us to achieve.
Your fundraising career has spanned education, theatre, and ballet. Why do you believe the performing arts are such an important part of Australia’s cultural life?
Live performance is so exciting - anything can happen on stage (and often does). But more than that, it is a profoundly human experience bringing artists and audiences together in a space where we can connect through sharing stories – our unique Australian stories, and our deeply human stories. I feel it is so important to find ways to facilitate real life human connection in a world that has felt increasingly isolating for so many people. Also, I adore seeing talented artists at the top of their game, brave enough to bare their souls live on stage!
What is a piece of storytelling, written or performed, that has stayed with you and that you will never forget? Why did it resonate so strongly?
Oh, there are many! The Rite of Spring is a ballet which has stayed with me my entire life. I loved the score at school and was blown away when I saw it on stage in all its raw, primal intensity. It was completely shocking in its time and shattered ideas of what ballet should be. I love the story behind the work the most, I think. The Merchant of Venice had a profound impact on me when I saw it in Perth in 2017, a Bell Shakespeare production coincidentally directed by Anne-Louise Sarks. I had never seen it, and it gave me literal shivers to realise humans have not changed in 400+ years. I joined Bell Shakespeare shortly after! Recently I saw The Jungle and The Sea, and was deeply affected. One of my closest friends is Sri Lankan, and I realised I had never quite appreciated Sri Lanka’s difficult history. It is almost impossible to imagine the horror of not being able to find safety in your own country.
Many people who work in the arts have a creative outlet of their own. What is your creative outlet when you are off the clock?
For me it is usually music-related. Listening to music, attending live gigs, occasionally messing around playing music with a few friends, dancing (mostly in my own living room). Or food related – I love to cook. I also love reading and intend to do more of it!
We’ll be seeing you at a number of donor events over the coming months. What’s one topic you could happily talk about for hours?
I can’t wait to meet our donors and learn all about them. I love hearing everyone’s stories and could do so for hours. Plus, I will be new to (living in) Melbourne so I will want to hear recommendations on all things Melbourne! And although I am not a big follower of sports, I'm a Freemantle girl so the Dockers are my AFL team and there may be some excitement if they make it to the Grand Final.
Given your recent time at Bell Shakespeare, is there a Shakespeare character you see yourself in? Who is it and why?
Gosh that’s hard! What I have realised about Shakespeare’s characters is that you can see parts of yourself in almost all of them! Maybe today I am Rosalind from As You Like It, leaving her city for new adventures.
What’s the best way to encourage more people to support the arts?
The best way is for everyone who cares, to talk to their friends, bring them along, share your love and enthusiasm with them, and encourage them to experience arts and live performance themselves. We need to nurture these old and new friendships and grow our community. There is something in the arts for everyone and the rewards of being involved are many and varied - personally, intellectually, socially. The first step is to be in it and experiencing it yourself.
Finally, what would you like Melbourne Theatre Company donors and supporters to know about you?
That I am SO excited about joining Melbourne Theatre Company! This is a company I have admired from afar for years and I know we have an exciting journey ahead. Thank you in advance for welcoming me in and I look forward to being on the journey with all of you.
Published on 3 September 2026