Debi Brooks
Co-Founder , Michael J. Fox Foundation

Deborah W. Brooks is co-founder of The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF). As such, Ms. Brooks spearheads principal-gifts fundraising and advises on strategic and programmatic direction. In addition, she serves as a senior spokesperson for new and existing external audiences.

Ms. Brooks served as MJFF’s president and chief executive officer from October 2000 to February 2007, during which period the Foundation funded over $90 million in research and became the single largest funder of Parkinson’s disease research outside the U.S. government.

Prior to co-founding MJFF with actor and Parkinson’s advocate Michael J. Fox, Ms. Brooks spent nine years at Goldman, Sachs & Co. as vice president in the Fixed Income and Asset Management Divisions. Seeking to apply her strategic background and business acumen to the nonprofit sector, she then shifted focus and led several not-for-profit organizations through start-up and turnaround efforts before joining Mr. Fox to launch the Foundation in late 2000.

Ms. Brooks is a member of the Advisory Board for FasterCures Philanthropy Advisory Service and sits on the Board of Directors for the Parkinson’s Institute. Additionally, Ms. Brooks serves on the Board of Overseers of the School of Social Policy and Practice at the University of Pennsylvania, the MBA Advisory Board of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth as well as the Advisory Board for Women in Business at Tuck.

Ms. Brooks holds a BA in economics from the College of William and Mary, an MBA from the Tuck School at Dartmouth College and an MS in marital and family therapy from Northwestern University.

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