Our Management Team

Debra da Costa founded Direct Marketing Partners in 1991, passionately believing in the goal of creating an effective marketing company truly responsive to the individual needs of clients. To this end, she structured DMP so that the company would be large enough to have the depth of expertise required by corporations with worldwide interests, but of a size that would permit close project participation by all the firm’s senior staff, as well as flexibility, scalability and customization in a somewhat rigid contact center world. For more than two decades, Debra has helped shift the lead generation model from quantity to quality and market-ready to sales-ready. She has done this by leading a team that stays ahead of the technology curve, combining the human touch within the multi-touch process. Early on, Debra developed nurturing campaigns and continues to tailor them to the ever increasing output from marketing automation. She has also guided her company and the industry by evolving database marketing to metrics-based marketing and is considered a pioneer in this metrics-based approach to demand generation.

In her career, Debra has held several design and technical positions with public agencies in both Canada and the U.S. Before creating DMP, Debra was the President of Debra da Costa Consulting, where she was responsible for high-tech industry marketing campaigns for industry leaders at the time such as Digital Equipment Corporation.

For the past several years, Debra was named one of the “50 Most Influential People in Sales Lead Management,” by the Sales Lead Management Association (SLMA). In 2011, she was one of SLMA’s “20 Women to Watch” winners and in 2017, named one of the “20 Women Leaders in Business”.

A native of Los Angeles, Debra holds a B.S. and M.L.A. from University of California, Berkeley.

Tom’s primary role and responsibility is to provide clients with direct marketing service solutions that best achieve their ROI goals on marketing and sales investments.
Tom joined DMP in 2005 after fifteen years of consulting, design and implementation of best-practice lead generation and lead management programs. In addition, he is a Marketing Instructor at University of California and San Jose State University with the Direct Marketing Certificate Program.

Tom serves on the board of the Northern California Direct Marketing Association and has spoken and led workshops at the American Marketing Association, Business Marketing Association, Direct Marketing Association and the American Teleservices Association. He holds a degree in Marketing from Southern Illinois University and has performed Graduate work at Webster University, St. Louis, MO. He is a member of the Sales Lead Management Association’s list of the 50 Most Influential Sales Lead Management Professionals.

Jose da Costa  has held several positions in his 26 year tenure with Direct Marketing Partners.  Most recently, he has been responsible for overseeing the general operations of the company and is also responsible for data privacy.

Deborah oversees the Direct Marketing Partners marketing operations center, as well as the planning and implementation of client marketing programs, reporting and analytics. Deborah’s outstanding organizational skills, her technical expertise and her strong management capabilities have been a critical element in DMP’s ability to deliver first class marketing services to its clients.

Prior to joining DMP in 1994, Deborah worked in the financial services industry. She holds an Associate degree in Business.

David started his marketing and technology sales career in 2001. Upon moving to Sacramento, David shared his expertise with Direct Marketing Partners where, since then, he has worked in various capacities — from contact center rep, inside sales rep to contact center manager.  In early 2019, David transitioned to Director of Customer Strategy and Business Development, to develop sales pipeline opportunities and to bring B2B clients into partnerships with Direct Marketing Partners.  David is a strong proponent of data-as-a-service and is instrumental in designing and selling effective campaigns.

David received his AA from Long Beach State University.

George Serra, is an 18 year Direct Marketing Partners veteran who, in addition to overseeing DMP’s B2B focused contact center, also performs project management. His responsibilities include the management of multiple client projects as well as the contact center’s performance, team building and tactical implementation of campaigns. He possesses very strong analytical and people skills, which coupled with his marketing know-how, make him a highly effective program manager with an history of providing clients with a long list of successful campaigns.

Prior to joining Direct Marketing Partners, George had eighteen years of experience in multiple call center environments, including at B2B firms such as McGraw Hill/F.W. Dodge. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from Assumption College