Debbie has lived in the Washington DC area for almost four decades, having grown up in Ontario, Canada.

She worked as a computer engineer in NASA’s communication division at Goddard Space Flight Center until she retired in 1999 to oversee the construction of a home.  She and her husband Frank Islam have since built another new home in Potomac, MD.  Debbie has been involved in the Potomac Area Newcomers Group since 2002.  Debbie is the Vice President of the Frank Islam and Debbie Driesman Foundation.

Debbie serves on the Board of Directors of the National Symphony Orchestra, the Honorary Board of the Halcyon Foundation, the Board of Directors of Washington Performing Arts, the Board of Governors of the Folger Shakespeare Library and on the National Council of the White House Historical Association.  She and Frank are members of the Kennedy Center International Committee on the Arts, the Abraham Lincoln National Council at Ford’s Theater, the Wilson Center National Cabinet, Meridian International’s Cultural Diplomacy Leadership Council, the Monticello Cabinet, the Global Leadership Council of the UN Foundation, the Washington Cabinet at Mount Vernon and the Madison Council at the Library of Congress.