Deby Coleman, Apple’s former chief financial officer and one of Silicon Forest’s top technology executives in the 1990s, died Friday at the age of 69.
“Deby was a strong partner and champion for women and girls throughout Oregon, especially in the technology community,” said Sandra McDonog, former executive director of Oregon Business and Industry and the Portland Business Alliance.
He praised McDonov Coleman for setting an example by “showing women how to excel in their fields.”
A.D. When Coleman started in Oregon Technology in the early 1990s, she said there were no other women in executive roles.
When the person in front of me falls, most of my chances come, ”Coleman told Oregon in 2019. Many top executives did not tend to hire women in senior positions in the 80s and 90s, but when given the opportunity, women often excelled in those positions.
“You are not the first choice, but you are there when they need you,” Coleman said.
She holds degrees from Brown University and Stanford. According to a report from several Oregon businesses, Coleman was Apple’s chief financial officer. The announcement did not specify the cause of death.
The Oregon Technology Association awarded Coleman a lifetime achievement award this year.
Coleman moved to Oregon in 1992 to become vice president of operations and equipment at the Technology Equipment Company. She left two years later, driving the historic circuit board producer Meriks, where she served as CEO and chair of Tech.
“In general, the C-group is at the top of the pyramid,” she said. “You have to go from brick to brick”
A.D. In 2001, Coleman left Merris to launch SmartForest Ventures in an effort to increase local funding for Oregon startups. The SmartForest portfolio includes a number of regional technology companies, including Cigarart, Crypt Corporation, Nexusplanar, iMove, Athens and Fosson.
But SmartForest In 2010, the company, which oversaw the company, failed to comply with financial support capital requirements.
Coleman performed on the Oregon Symphony and the Oregon Ballet Theater. A.D. In 2008, she set up Rain Day Productions to fund local theater groups.
Since then. In 2012, she worked as a producer on a short-distance broadcaster called “Jumping Faith”.
“Debbie was a symbol of the spirit of Oregon,” said Duncan Wise, president of the Oregon Business Council. Our state has lost one of its most outspoken advocates.
Coleman’s survivors include her mother and four brother lings.
– Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | Twitter @rogoway | 503-294-7699