Biography

Deborah Schimberg, KNFP-12, is the President/CEO of Verve, inc. which she founded in 1995 as a result of her interest in sustainable development. On a visit to an economically depressed community in the rainforest of Northern Guatemala, she learned about chicle- the tree sap from which all chewing gum was made, before 100% synthetic bases became the norm. Finding that the sustainable harvest of chicle benefits both the rainforest and the local economy, she felt inspired to create a market for it in the States. Building on the popularity of Verve's first product, the Make Your Own Chewing Gum Kit, she developed the brand Glee Gum which is now the leading natural chewing gum on the market. Schimberg is a serial social entrepreneur. After graduating from Brown University in 1979, she started the Southside Community Land Trust, a nonprofit urban environmental organization in Providence, Rhode Island. She subsequently founded the International Charter School, a dual language immersion elementary public school in Pawtucket, RI. She has served as the Executive Director of Social Venture Partners of Rhode Island, an organization of private sector members that helps nonprofit organizations to grow earned income ventures. She also has taught social entrepreneurship at Brown Univeristy. She holds an Ed.M. from Harvard University. She serves on the Board of Directors of several community organizations, is married, and has 3 great grown children.