A Passion for Financial Education and Personal Power

Deborah, an internationally award-winning brand marketing executive, is the founder, chief prosperity officer and mentor of Literacy to Legacy Mentors® LLC, Reframing Your Financial Future, a Pratt Prosperity company. For three decades, she has built a proven track record of effectively educating and mentoring young adults, entrepreneurs, businesspeople, affluent individuals and families, and retirees to become more financially savvy and successful.

Deborah opened her first checking and savings accounts at age 13, opened her first brokerage account at 18, bought her first home and a vacation home by the time she was 35, and launched two profitable seven-figure PR Divisions of leading U.S. advertising agencies by the time she was 45.

Her introduction to investing began when her mother gifted Citicorp stock to her as a high school graduation present, with the caveat, “Deb, this is your ticket to freedom. Learn everything you can and invest wisely.” Deborah took this advice to heart, and always fondly remembers “talking stocks” with her mom. For more than three decades, Deborah has been a profitable private investor. She also has served as a power of attorney and estate executor, working closely with trust and estate attorneys in leading New England law firms.

A History of Profitable Financial Management

After receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, with a minor in British Literature from C.W. Post College, Long Island University, Deborah started her career as a journalist for Hearst. With a keen interest in all aspects of consumer products marketing, she then became a senior publicist for Max Factor cosmetics company. When Max Factor was bought by Revlon and relocated to Hollywood, Deborah received a personal invitation from the CEO to move with the company and take on a senior PR role. Despite the incredibly attractive offer, Deborah decided to pursue a public relations agency career. She accepted an offer from the CEO of New York-based Earle Palmer Brown, one of the Northeast’s largest advertising agencies to launch the agency’s Consumer PR Division. Subsequently, she was hand-picked by the CEO of Stamford, Connecticut-based Creative Partners advertising, to launch the agency’s PR division.

Deborah has a comprehensive understanding and practical application of wealth and financial management. She was the PR agent-of-record for U.S. Trust’s New England region for 11 years, and for Rockefeller & Co., directing the national launch and roll out of its wealth aggregator technology platform, RockIT Solutions.

In 2007, she took the leap into entrepreneurship and founded Burns Communications, a profitable enterprise offering strategic branding, business, and communications solutions. Simultaneously, she launched a Strategic Partner network of agency experts to provide her clients with proven brand, marketing, and communications solutions. Deborah is trusted counsel to CEOs, presidents, entrepreneurs, and decision makers of capitalized start-ups to mid-sized companies.

Empowering Individuals to Financial Freedom

In 2020, Deborah saw a strong need for concrete, easy-to-understand, financial education and mentoring, targeting aspiring young professionals to retirees As part of the Pratt family of New York with a strong history in finance, industry, and education, she decided to formally leverage her ancestry and three decades of professional experience to create her new financial literacy education mentoring company, Literacy to Legacy Mentors™ to help educate, inspire, and motivate people to master their financial lives and live prosperously at any age.

Deborah holds a B.S. in Journalism, with a Minor in British Literature, from C.W. Post College Long Island University, Greenvale, Long Island, New York.