Deborah Abramson Kroll leads Skeleton Key’s Research & Innovation Practice, providing strategic oversight for projects that help nonprofits answer their most pressing questions through well-designed programs, grantmaking, research, and participatory processes. She specializes in building multidisciplinary teams — connecting clients with subject matter experts in social science, evaluation, and program design — while ensuring that projects drive decision-making, inform strategy, and strengthen cases for support. Under her leadership, the practice delivers everything from impact measurement frameworks and feasibility studies to publications that help organizations move the needle in their fields.
Deborah brings deep experience as a strategist, program officer, technology lead, and researcher in the nonprofit, foundation, and public sectors. She spent six years with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), most recently as Head of Strategy and Partnerships for Smart Data Research UK, a £49M programme for which she led strategy development and built innovative partnerships with foundations and tech companies. Within UKRI, she also led the development of the AI funding portfolio for the Arts & Humanities Research Council, which supports academic research in applied AI and data ethics and AI for humanities research. Earlier, as technical lead for the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Cultural Data Project (now SMU DataArts), she bridged technical and programmatic work — experience that now informs her approach to projects that are both methodologically rigorous and strategically designed for real-world impact.
She holds an MA in Public Humanities from Brown University and a BA in English Literature, magna cum laude, from Columbia University. As a retired professional dancer and former Chair of Trustees for Neon Dance, she has a particular affinity for organizations in the arts, culture, and heritage fields. Deborah lives in the Philadelphia area with her family.