Her Story
About Diana
I have served as Executive Director for three and a half years, and before that I was a board member, so I've been with the organization almost 18 years total. Most of my career was not in the nonprofit world - it was in the corporate world. I owned my own company for 18 years, and then I was an executive in a company for 14 years. Coming into the nonprofit world, I understood how to run an organization, but understanding the metrics of what a nonprofit needs to look like financially and how that is tied to funding was a learning opportunity for me. Our nonprofit is about a $2 million budget, and we own property, but we use all of that property to house our clients. My whole team works virtually, which gives us all flexibility, but we are always on task and available. Being the executive director is an interesting balance because you have a board of 13 people that you report to and have to keep informed and work with, and then you have your team and staff which you're in charge of, so you're kind of that monkey in the middle. I really appreciate having both sides of that. This is basically the third kind of career I've had, and this is by far the best it's ever been for me because the passion for what our nonprofit does - I see the change and trajectory of people's lives change every day, and that's just extraordinary. I also serve as a school board trustee for Los Alamitos Unified, an elected position I've held for going on 14 years. I love that work and seeing our youth achieving amazing things.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Diana
01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I had a male partner, and I was a young woman on my own trying to finish my college degree. I moved out when I was young and was on my own, taking a couple classes here or there, trying to finish that, working full-time, doing the things. I remember that the gentleman who ended up becoming my business partner had said to me, 'This is something you need to do, and you need to finish, no matter how long it takes, because it's something that nobody can ever take away from you.' That was a really valuable piece of advice to me, and it took me 11 years to graduate from college. I had a baby on either hip. But just that accomplishment of doing that and completing that and that perseverance, I think gave me so much as I moved forward in the rest of my career.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
The non-profit field is not for the faint of heart. We wear a lot of hats when you're in a non-profit organization. Mine's a smaller organization, we're about a $2 million budget, so you wear a lot of hats because a lot of the funding really has to be focused on what the mission is, and I absolutely agree with that. But it makes you have to do a lot of things. There's not a lot of layers, so to speak. But it's work. If you believe in that mission, it becomes a lot less work and it becomes a lot more passion-driven, and I'm very grateful for that. As I said, this is basically the third kind of career I've had, and this is by far the most - and I loved the rest of my career, you know, my company and my job, I loved them - but this is the best it's ever been for me because the passion for what our nonprofit does. I see the change and trajectory of people's lives change every day, and that's just extraordinary. So knowing that it's not for everybody, but the rewards are so much, or even so much more than just having a job and having an income.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Most of my career was not in the nonprofit world, it was in the corporate world. I owned my own company for 18 years, and then I was an executive in a company for 14 years. Coming into the nonprofit world, I understood how to run an organization, but understanding the metrics of what a nonprofit needs to look like financially and how that is really tied to sometimes funding, that was a learning opportunity for me. And it is a bit of something that I think ties nonprofits' hands occasionally, because there's this real perception, and I understand it, that when donors give money they want the majority of the money going towards the program. I get that, that's not a problem, but you have to have some operational and infrastructure and fundraising to be able to get to that aspect of the program. So that, to me, was a real opportunity to learn and to grow, and I think I'm getting there.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Character is very important to me, so being - none of us are perfect, we're all fallen, right? But being of good character and doing what I say I will do when I said I would do it, and if for some reason that doesn't happen, having a conversation about that. That's one of the huge values that's important to me. Giving back and being a light for others to have hope and an opportunity to see that they can change the trajectory in their lives if they choose to, and if they're not where they want to be. That's huge for me as well. And really empowering women. It's just been very important to me. It's funny I say that because my career was mostly with men, and I have a husband and I have two sons, but there's something about having the opportunity to help empower women to be all that they are meant to be that is at the core of who I am. I was raised without a father, so as I started my young adulthood I completely surrounded myself with men because I didn't have that. I had the most extraordinary mother, but I had no male role models or a father to really foster, and so I think that's why I really put myself in a male world and I'm very comfortable in a male world. But there's always been this little nagging part of me about empowerment of women because I had a mother who was a single mom and raised two kids and was extraordinary in her career. And generationally, I'm more mature and I have no problem with that, but I was a young girl in the 70s when I saw the Equal Rights Amendments coming up and I saw what women were fighting for as a young girl, and I saw my mother as a divorcee who was trying to make enough money to support her family and what restrictions were on her for that, and so that's always been a deep passion of mine - to really make sure that women are having those opportunities.
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