Debra was Director of the Performance Development Group and Director of Compliance a large ARM firm in Illinois for 21 years prior to joining Wakefield & Associates. She began her nearly 40 year career in the collection industry in 1980 at ACA International in the federal affairs department, then leading the association’s Education initiatives as Director of Education. As an ACA instructor since 1983, Debra has taught nearly 200 ACA Seminars, and she served on ACA’s Board of Directors for 2 terms spanning 2012 to 2018. In 2000, Debra was inducted into ACA’s International Fellowship of Certified Collection Executives, and was named ACA’s Instructor of the Year in 2005.

Receivables Advisor magazine, for which Debra has written a regular column for many years, has included her in numerous lists, including their Top 50 Most Influential Collection Professionals (2007), Who’s Who in the Collection Industry (2014), Most Influential Women in the Collection Industry (2016), and The 20 most Powerful Women in the Collection Industry (2018). Debra holds an MA in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix and a BA in English and Secondary Education from Iowa State University. Debra is also a Professional Collection Specialist(ACA), a Trainer Specialist, and holds ACA’s Scholar and Fellow Degrees in Collection Business Management. In 2009, Debra earned ACA International’s Credit and Collection Compliance Officer Designation.

Talks

• Technology Solutions to Regulatory Requirements – Debra J. Ciskey, Richard J. Perr, Esq. and Mike Frost