Diana Tran
Diana Tran (Trần Tâm Đan / トラン ダイアナ) is a first-generation Vietnamese-American and university graduate, passionate about building equity, leadership development, increasing access to quality education, and youth empowerment. She is committed to a life of service, learning, and connecting the human experience across time and culture. As the DC Middle School Program Coordinator at AALEAD, Diana looks forward to the opportunity to be able to do work that blends a multitude of her passions altogether. She is excited to work alongside students who may share similar narratives and hopes to build a strong community of compassionate, empowered, well-informed, and well-equipped AAPI youth who dare to dream.
Diana graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Non-Profit Leadership & Management from Arizona State University in 2018. During her academic career, Diana completed two thesis projects in social and behavioral sciences exploring how socioeconomic status and demographics contribute to the achievement gap in standardized testing, and how identity and a sense of belonging impact civic engagement in transient communities. After university, Diana lived and worked in Japan for two years, teaching English to junior high school age children and consulting local non-profit organizations. To leverage her time in Japan, she learned Japanese to connect with the community, advised after-school activities – including student council and girls’ volleyball, and incorporated discussions on racism, cross-cultural communication, leadership development, mental health, and wellness into her curriculum.
Diana considers herself as an advocate for youth leadership and has had the privilege of facilitating various trainings for the Governor’s Youth Council in Arizona and several chapters of Future Business Leaders of America, Key Club, and Phi Beta Lambda across the nation. Her own student leadership journey began with the March of Dimes in 2013 as a member of the High School Leadership Council. As time progressed, she advanced as a volunteer leader and went on to serve on the foundation’s top youth leadership board. Her facility with mobilizing students and adults and supporting key partnerships enabled her to become Chair of National Youth Outreach & Engagement, the Youth Liaison member of the Arizona State Board, and Advisor of the High School Leadership Council where she once served as a high school student.
In university, she continued to develop her leadership skills as an intern with multiple organizations and as an officer in student organizations including the Student Admissions Relations Team, Barrett Honors College Leadership and Service Team, University Hearing Board, Center for Study of Race & Democracy, and Delta Chi Lambda, an Asian-interest sorority. As President of Delta Chi Lambda, Diana designed a holistic membership development program that balanced the goals of the sorority and the aspirations of each member. Outside of the organization’s regular activities, Diana was able to develop a multi-year mentoring program for local high students to foster pathways to university for AAPI youth. Through her initiatives, Delta Chi Lambda was recognized as Chapter of the Year of the Multicultural Greek Council and Diana was recognized by the sorority’s national board as Sister of the Year.
Maryland born, Diana is happy to be living in the DMV area again. In her free time, one may find her cooking, baking, hiking, or hanging out with her friends and family. She loves playing board games, singing (really badly), and traveling to areas that have cobblestone streets or crystal clear bodies of water.