Deborah Knupp has worked globally with CEOs, executives, managing partners and attorneys as a coach and business executive for over 20 years. She has helped these leaders align their people systems and business objectives to create cultures based on the principles of accountability, integrity and authentic relationship building. Her work has focused on making the work environment a place where employees "want" to be; where clients "want" to buy; and, where leaders "want" to serve a bigger purpose in their communities and families.
Deborah brings her sales, leadership and culture development expertise to Akina and was one of Akina's founding Partners in 2001.
Prior to joining Akina, Deborah was the Chief Knowledge Officer for Geneer, a Chicago-based software development services firm. During her tenure, Deborah was the pivotal leader in mobilizing a sales transformation effort through the implementation of the Akina sales framework.
Prior to joining Geneer, Deborah was the Vice President of People Services for Commerx, a B2B hosted e-procurement solution provider. Prior to Commerx, Deborah was at Alcan Packaging, a multi-billion dollar international packaging business owned by Montreal based Alcan. While there, she served as General Business Manager for a $75MM business, as well as the senior executive in Human Resources for North America where she is credited with being a pioneer in global leadership and change management initiatives.
Prior to Alcan Packaging, Deborah was an Area Director for Frito-Lay in Houston, Texas and began her career at Pearle Vision holding Sales and corporate Human Resources management positions.Deborah graduated with Senior Fellow honors and a Bachelor of Science in Speech/Organizational Communication from the University of Texas at Austin.
On a personal note, Deborah has a number of other credits and achievements in her background. She has completed 5 Marathons (26.2 miles). She is a US Trademark holder for Spectathlete™. Deborah formerly served on the Board of Directors for SuperSibs! and on Board Operations for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Illinois. In addition, she regularly provides leadership and staff development, pro bono, for numerous non-profit organizations.
Deborah currently resides in Chicago with her husband and two daughters.
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