Debra Christmas is a seasoned leader in the high-tech field. Her 40 plus year career has encompassed sales, consulting, support channels and managing all aspects of information technology. Debra is Vice President, Executive Partner with Gartner, working with senior executives on executing their strategies, developing their teams, making technology investment decisions and their own personal leadership development. Prior to joining Gartner Canada, Debra was Vice President of Hewlett-Packard Software Technical Sales for North and South America.
She is the co-author of Please Stay: How Women in Tech Survive and Thrive released in the fall of 2020 and “We Rise In Power: Amplifying Women of Color and Her voices for Change” released on IWD, March 8th, 2023. Two additional books “Get Smarter Faster” and “Please Join: There’s No Place Like Tech” are targeted for release in 2024.
She has travelled the world as a facilitator for Manager Milestones, an innovative leadership development program and recipient of the Brandon Hall Gold Excellence Award for Learning. She has engaged with hundreds of leaders across continents and cultures to help them develop leadership skills to drive business results and enhance employee engagement. She is the Co-Creator of PACE an award-winning presentation and communications program.
She is the founder of Stiletto Gladiators, a not-for-profit organization delivering mentorship services, leadership assessment, professional development and diversity coaching and a co-founder of Women in Tech Tribe, focused on helping women in technology excel in the field. Her goal is to see equity and inclusion in this field. Debra has been involved in diversity, equity, and inclusion work in the corporate world since 1990 sitting on working groups, DEI committees and ERGs like WOW (Women on the Way Up). She is a trained Co-Active and John Maxwell Leadership Coach and is certified in Tilt365 and The Leadership Circle, a comprehensive leadership assessment framework based on the book “Mastering Leadership”. She is currently Chair of The Canadian Black Standard and on the Board of Trustees for Women of the Future.