ABOUT

Deborah LaPlante, who grew up in New York City, is the Executive Director and Founder of the Great I AM Christian Academy. She has three children  and has homeschooled them for over 15 years. Deborah is also the founder and CEO of Anew Beginnings LLC, a successful tutoring center she has operated for 10 years, which was featured in the Bronx Times Reporter. Additionally, she is the founder and president of Dads Love Ministries Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting at-risk children, with headquarters located in Penn Hills, PA.

Deborah has extensive experience working with children, having served as the director of a Christian early Learning Center in NYC, and as the After-School Tutoring and Sunday School Director for Urban Harvest Ministries in the South Bronx, NYC, focusing on at-risk kids. She has also worked as a teacher for Kaplan in NYC schools, a tutor for Test Quest Inc., and as a Learning Leader Tutor in NYC public schools. She received intensive training at Nyack Christian College in NY on launching and directing biblically-based youth development centers and has trained others to implement similar programs. Additionally, Deborah has completed Literacy Teacher Training through the American Bible Society in NYC. In these roles, she also helped homeschool students and supported their parents. With 35 years of experience working with children, she has extended her efforts to NYC, Brazil, Guatemala, and South Carolina. Her service includes time at the Times Square Church NYC children's ministry, which she considers her home church, where she is currently involved in the online teams hosting ministry.

Through Dads Love Ministries, Deborah also feeds and clothes the homeless, while managing an online business for the ministry. In addition to her extensive work with children, she is a licensed nurse in New York and Pennsylvania for 16 yrs.  Deborah is a graduate of Westchester College in New York.

Deborah has received several recognitions for her community service, including a Community Leadership Award from City Hall in NYC and an award for her children’s garden initiative, also from City Hall in NYC.

In her personal time, Deborah enjoys reading her Bible, gardening, crocheting, sewing, painting, spending time with her family, hiking, and has a love for antiques.