Deborah Bowie

The Woman Behind Gainesville’s Solutions

Story By: Mia Brabham

Deborah Bowie is resilient, self-motivated, and adaptable. As the Assistant City Manager with the City of Gainesville and a mother of four, the qualities are both learned and innate.

“I would say being adaptable and resilient are learned behaviors, but I’ve always been motivated to do things on my own, learn as much as I could, and figure out how to solve a problem.”

Bowie grew up in Liberty City, a community in Miami that didn’t have many resources available to her. She became scrappy early on, learning to stand up for what she believed in by first learning to stand up for herself.

From a young age she wanted to be a reporter, so Bowie studied journalism and began working as a beat reporter covering City Hall. As a professional writer, she gained exposure to various topics and grew her ability to research complex issues and distill the subject matter down to clear and concise information.

“The acquired skills of paying attention to detail, learning how to listen first, and then clearly communicating to different people has helped me to simplify and humanize government.”

When she first moved to Gainesville in 2013, she did so to find autism services for her son—the only boy of her triplets, and the only one with autism. Then, she started working to make Gainesville a better place for everyone.

After heading up membership, communications, and marketing for the Greater Gainesville Chamber of Commerce, Deborah led the United Way of North Central Florida as its CEO and President for three and a half years before joining the city of Gainesville as Executive Chief of Staff in 2018.

As the Assistant City Manager with the City of Gainesville, Bowie works every day to help the people of this community towards better solutions in every aspect of life, from affordable housing and unsheltered population services to parks. She describes the areas within her portfolio as “people issues.”

“Working with my departments, the community, and our partners, [we] find solutions to the challenges that many people face in trying to live the highest quality of life they can— whether it’s in a safe, stable place to call home or a clean and safe place to spend time in the community with their families.”

Bowie emphasized how devising strategies to improve the availability of affordable housing is directly linked to economic opportunity—or lack thereof.

“The pressing issues in our community, like many communities, is in developing a variety of affordable housing options, creating and maintaining public spaces that serve everyone’s needs, and in creating economic opportunities that includes more people than it excludes.”

For Bowie, no two days are the same. “There are sometimes far too many meetings, but the work is always interesting and the

people who work at the City on solving community challenges make it exciting and worthwhile.”

Teamwork and collaboration is essential to her role, and she understands that nothing could get done without every moving part and job in Gainesville.

“My favorite part of the job is working with diverse teams across the city and working to execute a project or solve a tough problem that we could not have otherwise done by ourselves.”

Bowie believes that forging partnerships between nonprofit agencies and local businesses is a powerful way to make a difference.

During the pandemic, the City of Gainesville, the Greater Gainesville Chamber of Commerce, and local restaurants partnered to provide “grab-n-go” meals for the community’s unsheltered population. The effort allowed local restaurants to bring in revenue, support their staff, and provide a service to the city’s unsheltered population at Grace Marketplace. It was a great example of a public-private partnership.

“The public sector cannot solve every community challenge. The private sector—often better equipped with technology, bigger budgets, and quicker response times—needs an invitation to help bring its expertise to help solve challenges that impact all of us.”

What happens outside of the office influences who Bowie is within it. She is proud of more than just her work.

“I pride my job as a mother more than any role in my life and as an advocate for my autistic son, I believe we must learn how to stand in the gap for people who cannot do it for themselves. If you do not know someone with a disability, take the opportunity to widen your circle. There is likely a child and a family who needs your support and invitation to be included.”

Her role as a mother of four, particularly one of whom has special needs, has influenced her role as Assistant City Manager.

“I believe the work I do is also about advocating for people who are not always at the table to ask for what they need and want. I take my involvement and representation very seriously. Someone opened the door for me. I have an obligation to open it for others.”

When asked about her legacy, Bowie says, “I hope to leave anywhere I have been a contributor or a leader [with the idea] that no problem is too big for a few committed people to overcome. All problems have solutions and no one is coming to save us from our ability to figure them out. I truly believe we have all the answers, and I hope my legacy speaks directly to the importance of never ever giving up.”