Debra Mitchell-Ruranga joined Newmark in 2021 and currently serves as Managing Director, Transition and Integration for Newmark’s Global Corporate Services (GCS) group. Her primary focus is the oversight, direction and delivery of transition, integration and continuous improvement projects. She also leads formulation of departmental plans, policies, priorities and resources to deliver the scope of projects and implementation commitments to large multi-service clients.
Prior to joining Newmark, Mitchell-Ruranga served as Managing Director at TIAA, heading up the Practice Management and Engagement function, which included serving as the Senior Chief of Staff for the head of TIAA Financial Solutions. Previously, she was Vice President of Planning and Strategic Business Engagement for Prudential Financial, where she was instrumental in creating a shared services delivery model to support the business internationally. While with Prudential Financial, Mitchell-Ruranga also acted as the Individual Solutions Group Chief of Staff for the head of the retail business.
Earlier in her career, Mitchell-Ruranga worked for Bridgewater Associates, a premier asset management firm with a unique operating model. During her tenure, she was responsible for strategic planning, program and operational management of Bridgewater’s Shared Services function supporting a firm-wide CREAS (Corporate Real Estate & Administrative Services) organization, delivering excellence and driving change in Real Estate, Hospitality, Transportation and Office Services. Mitchell-Ruranga was also nominated for three years to lead or participate in the lead team for Bridgewater’s annual strategic business planning process. She successfully led the firm’s 8-month change and program management effort to implement Workday (HR, Finance/Procurement modules) as a part of a firm-wide technology transformation mission. Its implementation yielded high levels of readiness and adoption firm-wide.
While working for UBS, Mitchell-Ruranga successfully integrated new group-wide IT infrastructure and HR business units, supporting four global regions with over 65,000 employees.
Areas of Specialty
- Business Management
- Change Management & Continuous Improvement
- Relationship Management
- Strategic Planning
Professional Achievements
- Program Management: Award for Workday Implementation, Bridgewater Associates
- Leadership: IT Infrastructure Management Committee Member nomination, UBS
Professional Affiliations
- Member of CALIBR, Global Leadership Network
Education
Mitchell-Ruranga has a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from the University of Massachusetts.