Deborah Byers has staffed the Howard & Bush Foundation since mid-1987, acting as a liaison
with grant applicants and recipients and providing general administration. During this time she
also assisted with the start-up of the grants programs of Troy Savings Bank Charitable
Foundation and the Charitable Venture Foundation, and served twice as interim executive
director of the Millay Colony for the Arts. Previously, she was engaged in afforable housing,
community redevelopment and historic preservation in Albany and southern Rensselaer County.
She has served on numerous boards in the community and in many capacities in the local and
regional United Methodist Church, including as president of the trustees of the Upper NY Annual
Conference. Currently, she is on the board of the relatively new Justice Center of Rensselaer
County and chairs the Leadership Team at Christ Church United Methodist in downtown Troy.