Debra Y. Turner

By: Errol Mars

Company: TurnerPatterson, LLC

Position: Chairman, CEO, Co-Founder

Industry: Advertising & Marketing

Country: United States

Debra Y. Turner has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TurnerPatterson, LLC since co-founding the company in May 2002.

Under her leadership, TurnerPatterson has become a leader in the development, production, promotion and distribution of multicultural entertainment and consumer products.

Prior to co-founding TurnerPatterson in 2002, Ms. Turner was a founding partner in a sports marketing company with Olympic Medalists, the late Florence (Flo-Jo) Griffith Joyner, and Al Joyner. She was also a senior manager with Century Cable Communications where she ran six advertising sales offices in Southern California. During Ms. Turner's tenure, she was principally responsible for expanding Century Cable's international sales business.

Prior to Century Cable, Ms. Turner was a Divisional Merchandise Manager with NikeTown, a division of Nike, where she oversaw sales and inventory management of Apparel, Accessories and Posters. In addition, Ms. Turner was heavily involved in launching the retail stores division as well as introducing the "Big and Tall" category to Nike Retail.

Ms. Turner joined Citibank F.S.B in Chicago where she was integral in developing and launching the pilot program for investment services in the bank's retail branches as well as Citibank's innovative photo credit card program which has since become a multimillion dollar business.

Ms. Turner has also served in various store management roles with Carson Pirie Scott including furniture buyer. 

She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the UCLA Academic Advancement Program. Past board memberships include The California Science Center and The Starlight Children's Foundation. Debra has a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Communications from Purdue University.