Deborah Elaine Collins is the Executive Director of the Essex County Economic Development Corporation. The Economic Development Corporation of Essex County is a private not-for-profit corporation established in 1982 to provide financial and technical assistance to “start-ups” and established businesses located in the County of Essex.

Ms. Collins is also the Director of Small Business Development and Affirmative Action for the County of Essex, New Jersey. Formerly the Chairperson of the Essex County Disparity Study Commission which analyzed the County’s contracting and procurement processes, she is responsible for the implementation of a Plan of Action to ensure that small, woman, and minority business owners receive their fair share of public contracts. Essex County is the first and only County in the State of New Jersey ever to conduct and complete a disparity study.

Ms. Collins received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish from New York University. She received her Master of Arts degree in Spanish and Spanish American Literature from NYU’s Graduate School of Arts and Science in Spain. After a brief career in academia teaching Spanish at the college level, she attended Rutgers Law School in Newark, New Jersey where she received the degree of Juris Doctor.

An Employment lawyer by background and training, Ms. Collins worked in corporate America and on Wall Street for ten years prior to entering County government. While on Wall Street, she was the Global Manager of Employment Litigation at J.P. Morgan (prior to the Chase merger) and point-of-first contact to the firm’s Latin American business interests. Subsequently, she worked at Goldman Sachs where she managed the human resource merger issues resulting from the firm’s acquisition of Spear, Leeds and Kellogg, a Broker/Dealer.

A former litigator, Deborah Collins spent several years in private practice as a labor lawyer representing unions. She was also an Associate General Counsel in the General Counsel’s office of the New York City Transit Authority where she specialized in the defense of employment discrimination cases. It was at the NYC Transit Authority where she served a stint as Deputy Assistant Vice President of Affirmative Action and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Programs. Ms. Collins later became the first Special Counsel to the chief of Transit Police specializing in employment discrimination and affirmative action matters.

Deborah Collins is a frequent public speaker and workshop leader on topics such as Diversity, workplace harassment prevention; small business development; corporate etiquette and power networking.