Debbie Ellis is the project director for the Oregon State Parental Information and Resource Center (Oregon PIRC) at Education Northwest. Her area of work and expertise focuses on school/family partnerships, educational equity, and early childhood parent education. Ellis coordinates a statewide conference for educators and parents focusing on school-family partnerships, educational equity, and academic achievement. She assisted in the development of a statewide parent leadership curriculum to help under-represented parents, and developed a multi-media training for families. She has worked as a teacher and family advocate/parent educator and is the author or co-author of numerous publications including See Poverty, Be the Difference: Discovering the Missing Pieces for Working with People in Poverty (Communication Across Barriers, 2007), and Partnerships by Design: Cultivating Effective and Meaningful School-Family Partnerships (Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 2002).
