Debra Koontz Traverso, MA

Biography

Debra Traverso has spent more than twenty years as a reporter, editor, public relations specialist, crisis management consultant, college instructor, and research journalist.

Ms. Traverso divides her time between teaching communications and marketing at the college level, as an editorial consultant for the Edison Electric Institute, and as vice president of communication/PR for One Call, a telecommunications firm near Boston. She also continues to do freelance research journalism.

Ms. Traverso has written hundreds of articles and five books, now published in eight languages. Among her book titles are Outsmarting Goliath and The Small Business Owner’s Guide to a Good Night’s Sleep. Her articles have appeared in publications as varied as the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, Sesame Street Parents magazine, Home Business Journal, Small Business Journal, Public Relations Journal, Writer’s Digest and Better Viewing magazine, and at Entrepreneur.com, TopTen.org and Parents.com. She is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors.

Ms. Traverso holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, and a master’s degree in corporate public relations from Kent State University in Ohio. She also completed graduate work in business management and organizational development at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Ms. Traverso started her career as a journalist before serving as a public relations specialist and spokesperson for Cleveland State University and The Johns Hopkins University Hospital. She subsequently moved to the Perry Nuclear Plant where she was involved in media relations and the Emergency Public Information program. For nine years, she co-owned and operated a consulting firm, TECH*PLAN Associates, offering services in crisis management and communications to scores of clients, from utilities to banks to chemical companies, and more.