Dr. Deborah Stroman, is an enthusiastic entrepreneur and educator at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a national speaker committed to real talk and strategies that engender intention, change, and innovation. Her instructional focus and experience lie in the leadership domains of Equity, Entrepreneurship, and Sport Business. Her company, SAAM LLC, provides consulting services purposed to drive institutional and community change. Dr. Stroman’s doctoral studies in Leadership and Organizational Behavior are blended with her own personal activism and business and academic experiences to generate results. Services include keynote presentations, workshops, strategic and tactical planning, organizational audits, facilitation, listening sessions, and communications strategy. As a strong advocate for fairness and justice for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, she is also a national advanced trainer with Racial Equity Institute LLC, which provides historical context and a racial analysis to address structural racism disparities. At the University of North Carolina, she has a faculty appointment at the prestigious Gillings School of Global Public Health, whereby her racial equity education expertise is applied as an instructor and advisor in the graduate concentration of Health Equity, Social Justice, and Human Rights. In addition, she is the Education Director of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Research Program (DEIR) for the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and The Odum Institute. Dr. Stroman designed and taught the first and only racial equity course for MBA students and has assisted in the implementation of racial equity workshops across campus (including the School of Medicine). She has co-taught the racial equity workshops in the National Institutes of Health Senior Leadership Program for the last three years. She is a leading advocate for innovation and equity in higher education in the United States.

Community Service and Recognition includes:
- 2021 Woman of the Year for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP
- Chairperson emeritus of the Orange County (NC) Human Relations Commission
- Chairperson emeritus of the University of North Carolina Black Faculty and Staff Caucus
- Recipient of the 2018 Salute to Champions Award (Triangle community service recognition by the Capitol Broadcasting Company)
- The 2016 Orange County (NC) Pauli Murray Award
- The UNC Class of 1996 Award for Advising Excellence (2012-13), the UNC General Alumni Association Harvey Beech 2013 Outstanding Faculty/Staff Award, and inductee in UNC’s oldest
and highest honorary society, Order of the Golden Fleece
- Board memberships: National Racial Justice Task Force (United Church of Christ), NBA Math Hoops (Learn Fresh Education), Healthy Girls Save the World, and NC Correctional Education