Deborah Collier

Deborah Collier serves as the vice president of policy and government affairs for Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), a private, non-partisan, non-profit organization representing more than one million members and supporters nationwide. Appointed to the position in January 2020, Ms. Collier supervises and manages the policy and government affairs personnel for CAGW. Ms. Collier also serves as the executive director for CAGW’s Innovation and Technology Policy Center (ITPC).

Ms. Collier joined CAGW in 2011 as the organization’s first director of technology and telecommunications policy. In recognition of her work as a leading advocate for connecting people to Wi-Fi and closing the digital divide, she was recognized by WiFiForward as a 2022 Wi-Fi Policy Champion. As executive director of the ITPC, she oversees and promotes the center’s work on aerospace, antitrust, biopharmaceuticals, broadband, information technology (IT), intellectual property rights, privacy, and telecommunications issues.

Since joining CAGW, Ms. Collier has co-authored two books with CAGW President Thomas A. Schatz, and authored several issue briefs and reports relating to cloud computing, government-owned networks, federal and state IT procurement, privacy policy, and spectrum.

Prior to joining CAGW, Ms. Collier spent 24 years working for members of the U.S. House of Representatives in various capacities, most recently as the republican legislative director for the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. In that capacity, she coordinated legislative research and supported oversight investigations as well as the development and drafting of legislation related to information security, data breach notifications, federal procurement reform and energy sustainability at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

From 1993 until 2005, Ms. Collier was a member of the House Systems Administrators Association, a congressional staff organization comprised of IT professionals within member offices at the U.S. House of Representatives. She led the organization as its president from 2002 to 2005, participating in technology forums and facilitating monthly meetings to educate member offices on implementing emerging technology to streamline office operations and improve constituent services, as well as to promote IT security awareness.

An Ohio native, Ms. Collier holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Ohio University.