Deborah Dawton
Deborah Dawton studied Design for Industry BA (Hons.) at Newcastle Polytechnic and began her career at the Royal Society of Arts working on their Student Design Awards. She then went on to set up her own business delivering design events, competitions and conferences with leading design organisations and companies across Europe.
Deborah became the Chief Executive of the Design Business Association (DBA) in 2003. The DBA is the trade association for the design industry, representing a vibrant community of design agencies and in-house design teams. Founded in 1986, the DBA was set up by the industry for the industry to promote professional excellence, champion effective design and foster a creative community of many of the brightest and most respected names in the design industry.
President of the Bureau of European Design Associations (BEDA) for two years until March 2013, Deborah is also a member of the European Design Leadership Board and Creative UK, UK Council Member.
Her passion for design as a strategic tool that boardrooms must recognise, and her experience of the UK and European diverse and competitive design sector enable her to lead the DBA as it works tirelessly to build universal confidence in design investment and support the design industry to deliver on this promise.