Ms Chan joins from the Office for Public Management (OPM) where she has held the post of fellow within the Stakeholder and Community Engagement Team. Her role involved her with a number of public bodies, consulting with them over public policy, service and community issues. These included acute NHS service reconfiguration, budgetary priorities and Best Value reviews. Prior to OPM, Ms Chan was a Senior Research Executive within MORI’s Social Research division. She joined MORI following a stint as a volunteer worker in an AIDS/HIV+ drop-in centre in the North East of England.

Commenting on the new appointment, head of ORC International’s Public Sector division Rachel Lopata has said that, "Debbie Lee joins us with many years experience in Public Sector research. She brings with her a broad range of consultation techniques, with an emphasis on researching hard to reach groups – a particular focus of ours at the moment. I am certain that Debbie Lee will play an integral part in the continuing development of our offering to organisations in the Public Sector."