Debra Israel

Debra is originally from the East Coast and arrived in CA on her 13th birthday. She first lived in San Francisco with her mother and moved to Oakland the following year where she later graduated from McChesney Junior High (now Edna Brewer) & Oakland High School. Go Wildcats! Debra attended San Francisco State University where she studied community health education which led to her work with nonprofits and K-12 education focused on a range of issues including HIV/AIDS, adolescents & puberty, nutrition education and community engagement.

She comes from a family of political activists and remembers attending her first march and protest with her mother in Oakland, which was just the beginning of her orientation to community organizing.

Debra has been a member of Neighbors for Racial Justice (N4RJ) in Oakland for several years, working to educate and mobilize Oakland neighbors to take action to address racist profiling and racial justice in our City.