Deborah Epstein is a consultant to foundations and not-for-profit organizations in arts and culture and social services with an expertise in interim management. She co-founded and was the founding executive director of the Neighborhood Writing Alliance, a community arts organization, and publisher of the Journal of Ordinary Thought (JOT). She is the former chair of Illinois Humanities, chair of the board of Seminary Co-op Bookstores, serves on the boards of the Invisible Institute and Reading Between the Lines®, and is a member of the University of Chicago Humanities Council. Epstein received an A.B. in English from Stanford University and an M.A. in English Language and Literature from the University of Chicago.