Debra E. Thompson is Executive Director of GenTech,a not-for-profit Digital Media Education & Training Center with a focus on digital technology, leadership, and entrepreneurship for youth, teens, and adults located on the campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Our mission is to prepare people for 21st century colleges, careers, and entrepreneurial opportunities.
In the corporate arena, Ms. Thompson held the positions of Director, Leadership & Executive Development at the Ameritech Institute, and the positions of Manager, Leadership and Organizational Development, Manager, Sales Training Development, and Internal Consultant at Ameritech Communications, Inc. She also served as Training & Development Manager with Tellabs, Inc., a telecommunications manufacturing company.
As a consultant and corporate trainer, Ms. Thompson specialized in designing, developing, implementing and measuring training, educational, and socio-technical interventions for the telecommunications industry. Her combination of experience in training, organization development, and technology has resulted in the successful completion of projects with Ameritech, SBC, 3Com, Sprint, MCI Worldcom, AT&T, Verizon, Motorola, US Cellular, and Baxter, to name a few.
Thompson worked with Benedictine University as an Admissions Counselor, developer of their Work-Life Studies program, and as an adjunct faculty member. Thompson has also taught at Chicago State University, the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, the Los Angeles Unified School District, and several high schools in the Chicago area.
Ms. Thompson has successfully established several educational enrichment centers and programs throughout the country. Her experience includes the founding of The Frank London Brown Academy, a private school in Chicago, The Learnatory, an enrichment center for school-age students with operations in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles and the innovative Prep2000, an after-school enrichment program for high-potential students, in Naperville, Illinois.
Deeply committed to education, Ms. Thompson has spearheaded the development of educational programs for over 30 years. Her most current focus is to introduce students to high-tech careers and skills in digital technology. She initiated this effort with the establishment of the Protege Career Learning Center, later transformed into GenTech offering programs to students in grades 3 – 12 in Video Game Design & Creation, Animation, Web Design, Film Production, and Robotics. GenTech has recently been expanded to include programming for adults including Computer Basics, Web Design, Game Design, Xbox 360 Game Creation, and iPhone application development.
Active in community affairs, Ms. Thompson is listed in Who's Who of American Women for her leadership in the fields of training and education. She is a member of the American Society for Training and Development. She is Secretary of the Rotary Club of Chicago Southeast chapter of Rotary International.
Ms. Thompson holds a Master of Science degree in Management and Organizational Behavior with a concentration in Organization Development from Benedictine University. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with teaching credentials from Northern Illinois University. She is the proud mother of three children, who hold degrees in the fields of Media Communications, Film Production, and Animation & Screenwriting.
OUR STAFF
Experienced Professional as Instructors We hire only people that have real-world experience as our Lead Instructors. We also hire our own advanced-level students to work besides our Instructors as Teacher Assistants. This shows our commitment to having only the best instructors for our students and to helping our students gain professional experience learning to give back to their communities and each other.
