With a JD from NYU School of Law and a BA in political science from Rutgers College, Deborah brings a passion for working with non-profit organizations. She began her law career working at the firms of Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler and Chadbourne & Parke. She went on to work for the national office of the “I Have a Dream”® Foundation and the Entertainment Software Association. But the immediate backstory on her formation of Deborah Buyer Law was her time as General Counsel for the New York City Department of Small Business Services. While there, Deborah identified the New York non-profit community’s great need for sophisticated and cost effective legal counsel, and decided to form Deborah Buyer Law in 2011. She says, “I’m essentially a corporate lawyer for non-profits. This is very much a social entrepreneurship. Non-profits are doing things I care about.” Deborah is a member of Nonprofit NY's Government Affairs Committee, NYC Bar Association and Nonprofit Westchester.
Rita has both a JD and a Master of Public Administration from Syracuse University, as well as a BA from Fordham University. She has focused her entire career on serving the public good, through her work for the City of New York, including as Assistant General Counsel at the NYC Department of Small Business Services, and her work for Henry Street Settlement, Battery Park Authority and the Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board. Rita is passionate about “working with organizations that help the City be better, do better and serve people better”. She thrives in the challenge of working with nonprofit organizations, where “no day is like the day before and the next day will be different.”