LINC’s Chief Community Officer and Longest Standing Employee, Debora Mulrain Retires After 27 Years

If there’s one thing LINC does best, it’s building meaningful, lasting relationships. One of them started 27 years ago with Debora Mulrain, an employee, a friend, a mentor, a colleague, a visionary, an all around extraordinary woman, who was hand picked by our founder Mimi Levin Lieber. 

Debora Mulrain, a parent of five herself, started as a Community Coordinator in 1998 and this week she retires as Chief Community Officer.   

Debora distributed books, she recruited families, she delivered reading programs, she built relationships and nurtured them.  She learned, first hand, just how challenging the job was but also how rewarding it can be.  As LINC began to expand, Deb was the person to interview, hire and train all new employees. At one point Deb directly managed the entire community staff which meant she was responsible for 75% of the org, and there was nothing she would not do for her team. 

We could not let Ms. Debora (as she is affectionately called by staff) go without a proper thank you filled with family, friends, and colleagues. Debora was honored at LINC’s spring gala on May 19 and with a surprise retirement party at Le Chéile on May 29.

Words used to describe Debora during these events included: honest, natural leader, work mama, no nonsense, amazing woman, heart and soul, wisdom, grace, an inspiration, an advocate, a pillar of her community.   

Known for her ability to speak truth to power, this leader leaves her own legacy with LINC and her presence will be dearly missed on a daily basis.

I AM HONORED AND HUMBLED BY THE WORK I’VE DONE, THE PEOPLE I’VE MET AND MY SHARED EXPERIENCE OF MIMI AND LINC. THANK YOU. 

WITH THE WORK LINC IS DOING, AND HAS BEEN DOING FOR YEARS, I KNOW I CAN LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING LINC’S CONTINUED IMPACT—NOT JUST IN THE COMMUNITIES WE SERVE, BUT ACROSS THE BROADER FIELD OF EARLY LITERACY. 

ALL WE NEED TO DO IS REMAIN TRUE TO MIMI’S VISION: WE WILL CONTINUE CREATING A SPACE WHERE EVERYONE IS WELCOMED TO THE LINC TABLE TO LEARN, SHARE, AND GROW TOGETHER.

Debora Mulrain, Chief Community Officer

Just as our families keep returning to LINC, even though their children have aged out, Debora Mulrain plans to return as a volunteer to help ensure LINC’s impact, early literacy and community support can reach more families.

Join us in honoring Ms. Debora this week and keeping her legacy alive at LINC.