Deborah Nankivell has been the CEO of the Fresno Business Council since shortly after its inception in 1993. For the previous eight years  she was executive director of Common Cause, Minnesota, a 6,000 member organization focused on good government and ethics.  Prior to that Deborah practiced law in the areas of criminal defense, personal injury and workers' compensation. She has also worked as a consultant and legal advisor for a national consulting firm, Community Intervention, whose services included helping communities develop school-based systems to help children at risk. Deborah earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from the University of Minnesota and her Juris Doctor degree from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul. She has participated in graduate seminars on leadership, ethics and public policy at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.