Debra Hotaling leads Ford's communications team in the Western United States. Prior to her tenure with Ford, Hotaling was a partner with the global public relations firm Fleishman-Hillard where she also served as global co-chair for the organization's sustainability and renewable energy practice group. Hotaling has worked as features writer for the Los Angeles Times, served as a commentator for American Public Media's "Marketplace" and taught at the University of Southern California while completing a Ph.D. in American literature. She lives with her husband and daughter in Torrance, California; her older daughter attends the University of California San Diego.