About

Deborah McLean is president of the CAIA Foundation and global head of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at the CAIA Association, the professional body for the alternative investment industry with 13,000 Members representing 100 countries. As a chief DEI strategist and spokesperson, Deborah leverages the organization’s voice and influence to help shape an investment industry that is more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and better represents the society in which we live. She has held senior leadership roles in the corporate, nonprofit, and higher education sectors, and is an ardent supporter of workplace diversity as an essential component to unlocking innovation, driving higher performance, and creating business growth outcomes.

Deborah has advocated on behalf of under-represented groups for more than 20 years. She launched her career at ABC News on the production team of World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, helping to bring issues and new ideas into the public domain. She became a vice president of a leading Washington, D.C. PR firm where she managed a client portfolio of corporate, federal, and non-profit clients focused on advancing ideas and policies designed to solve societal problem. Later, Deborah’s passion for education led her to Boston to advance the work of a non-profit, established by David Rockefeller, Jr., that focused on improving urban education. Turning her attention to higher education, Deborah also held senior fundraising roles at Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges, where she helped secure multi-million-dollar endowment funding for scholarships and financial aid which broadens access for students in need into perpetuity.

Deborah is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and studied DEI leadership at Northwestern University. A native Midwesterner from Peoria, Illinois, Deborah lives with her husband and family in western Massachusetts.

Email: dmclean@caia.org