Debby Irving has worked since the 1980s to foster diversity, inclusiveness, and community-building. As general manager of Boston’s Dance Umbrella and later First Night, she developed both a passion for cross-cultural collaborations and an awareness of the complexities inherent in cross-cultural relationships. She has worked in public and private schools as a classroom teacher, board member, and parent. Her approach is to use authentic dialog to connect people through shared interests and divergent backgrounds.

Raised in Winchester, Massachusetts during the socially turbulent 1960s and ‘70s, Debby experienced a blissfully sheltered, upper-middle-class suburban childhood before becoming intrigued and horrified by the racial divide she observed in Boston. Her work from 1984 to 2009 in urban neighborhoods and schools left her feeling helpless about racial dynamics. A course at Wheelock College in 2009, Racial and Cultural Identity, shook her awake, leading her to examine her own socialization as part of the "normal" race.

Her book Waking Up White is the story of her journey away from racial ignorance. She continues to study racism and works to educate other white people about it. Debby lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her husband Bruce and their two daughters. She holds a BA from Kenyon College and an MBA from Simmons College.