Deborah Gianoulis Heald

Deborah Gianoulis Heald is best known in the Jacksonville area for the 25 years she anchored the evening news on Jacksonville’s leading television station, WJXT, channel 4. She actually got her start in town at channel 12, where she was named the first woman weekday anchor in Jacksonville in 1977.

Deborah did not enter the business to anchor the news, but to report it. Throughout her career she enjoyed storytelling. While her coverage of local news was often on the high profile stories of the day – from the effect of desegregation on students’ ability to learn to the first Gulf War (for which she spent a week spent aboard the aircraft carrier Saratoga) – she often focused on the extraordinary efforts of ordinary people who make a true difference in our lives. Her two Emmy awards are for military and education reporting. Deborah’s documentary on Hubbard House and domestic violence, “Behind Closed Doors,” won a Peabody award in 2000 and is still used for domestic violence training of police officers and judges across the country.

Deborah found her public profile opened doors into the nonprofit world. She was the first leadership giving chair for the United Way and has served on the boards of the former NCCJ  (now OneJax), Ronald McDonald House, Communities in Schools, The Schultz Center, and Episcopal Children’s Services (ECS). Since retiring from television in 2004, Deborah has devoted the most time to early literacy through ECS, where she is currently the foundation board chair.

Deborah is married to David Heald and they have two children, John and Laura.