Debra Maly, known as Deb, is the Chair of AFS-USA’s volunteer representative body, the National Council. Deb became involved with AFS when a friend mentioned: “Your family would be a great host family.” This began her AFS involvement in 2004 when her family welcomed their AFS hosted daughter, Silje from Norway, followed by their AFS hosted son Rodrigo from Brazil. Following a successful first year of hosting, Deb made the decision to be more involved and volunteer with AFS.
Deb has been an active volunteer with the Milwaukee Area Team since 2005, where she has served in many capacities, including Liaison, Chapter Chair, Hosting Volunteer, Liaison Coordinator, Support Coordinator, and Compliance Coordinator. Nationally, Deb has served as the Chair of the Compliance Advisory Group (CAG) for six years and as part of her role on the CAG, she was the liaison to the Support Advisory Group (SAG) for four years. Deb was elected to the National Council in 2015.
Deb received both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati in Speech/Language Pathology. She has practiced as a Speech/Language Pathologist for 32 years. She currently is working full time in an educational setting and part-time in skilled nursing facilities serving ages 3-100! Deb believes in the power of effective communication and her personal goal is to ensure that AFS is able to communicate effectively among all stakeholders.
Deb and her husband Kevin reside in Germantown, Wisconsin and have been married for 33 years. They have an adult daughter, Caitlin who resides in Chicago, Illinois.
