Deborah Weaver
Executive Director of the Westport River Watershed Alliance. Co-founder and former Executive Director of Girls’ LEAP
“How strong and powerful women can be, if they figure out how to use the things that are already in them."
Without Deborah, there would be no Girls’ LEAP.
In 1997 Deborah worried about the growing violence against girls and young women, and found there were few resources to help. So she co-founded LEAP, creating a unique curriculum, building an inter-generational teaching model, and partnering with youth-serving organizations. By the time she retired in 2012, LEAP had trained over 10,000 young people.
Deborah has taught her entire career, holding faculty positions at colleges including Dean, Simmons, Lesley, and Wellesley, where she retired from the faculty of the Physical Education, Recreation, and Athletics Department after 37 years.
Deborah received many awards for her work, including Celtics Heroes Among Us, Best Practices (Girl Scouts), The Social Innovation Award, and The Wellesley College President’s Award for Community Service.
We are grateful to Deborah for her deep commitment to young people. She teaches us what it takes to create, grow, and sustain a non-profit: expertise, charisma, confidence, persistence, and hard work.