Our Purpose
We focus on strengthening leaders and supporting organizations working toward social justice, racial equity and the delivery of services and programs that provide direct support, education, economic opportunity and advocacy to address historic disparities and transform communities.
About Dianne
Dianne Morales is the founder and President of StillRising. She has decades of experience as an executive leader of large scale non-profit, human services organizations. She is a seasoned social entrepreneur who has helped found successful national organizations, a women’s focused foundation, and city-wide initiatives in education and workforce. Dianne has a proven track record of delivering sustainable, scalable and innovative solutions that increase impact and drive growth. She has also served as a trusted advisor and coach to leaders in philanthropy, the corporate sector and human services. Dianne founded StillRising to help leaders and communities reach their full potential. We are committed to working closely with our clients to understand their unique needs and develop strategies that are tailored to their specific goals.
Addressing students at NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
Experience Overview
Dianne is an executive leader and social entrepreneur with demonstrated success developing innovative solutions in education, social and economic justice, and equity. She works with leaders to strengthen the impact of organizations and increase their ability to effectively advance positive outcomes for communities that have borne the weight of structural and systemic inequities. Dianne provides organizational change/strategy, culture change management, capacity building, leadership/team development and coaching. She brings extensive experience in the creation of scalable programs and cross-sectoral partnerships, as well as deep knowledge in the development of systems and long-term growth and sustainability in operations.
The Leadership Alliance’s inaugural retreat
Career Highlights
Dianne is an expert in education, workforce, and youth development with a wealth of experience in executive management, strategy, policy, and organizational development who ran for NYC Mayor in 2021. She is an exceptional fundraiser with deep experience engaging with philanthropy. She served for over ten years as the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Phipps Neighborhoods, a $24 million multiservice agency serving almost 12,000 children, youth, and families to combat poverty. Dianne has spent more than 20 years in program start-up, including the initial implementation of the NYC Department of Education’s Office of Youth Development and School-Community Services under Chancellor Joel Klein, the launching of The Teaching Commission, and the development of Jumpstart, a national AmeriCorps early childhood non-profit organization.
Panel discussion on Addressing the Mental Health Crisis and Eliminating Barriers to Culturally Competent Care
Professional Background
Dianne is a social entrepreneur, educator and former classroom teacher who has dedicated her career to creating alternative pathways to education and careers for students in Black and brown communities that have been traditionally underserved. She was a founding member of Jumpstart, a national program that trains college students to support literacy and socio-emotional development in early childhood. She created the strategic plan that resulted in the creation of the first charter school in NYC to prioritize homeless and foster care youth, Broome Street Academy. She was also the founder of the first collective impact initiative in NY state, South Bronx Rising Together, creating a cradle to college and career program for public school students in the poorest Congressional district in the country. Concurrently, she developed Career Network Healthcare in partnership with Hostos Community College and Montefiore Medical Center to connect young people who were under/unemployed with access to careers and education in the allied health professions.
In 2021, she ran an unprecedented grassroots campaign for NYC mayor and was the first Afro-Latina candidate to make the ballot.
At the National Dominican Women Caucus conference discussing the right to housing and challenges with affordability and access.
Awards & Recognition
Dianne was a founding board member of Fundacion de Mujeres en Puerto Rico, the only foundation on the island dedicated to supporting organizations that serve, organize and advocate for women, girls and the gender non-binary community. Dianne has been recognized by the NYC Hispanic Chamber of Commerce as an exceptional Hispanic woman dedicated to expanding business within the Hispanic Community and also for her work with local communities in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. Hispanic Lifestyle has recognized Dianne as a “Latina of Influence” and the Latino Social Work Task Force honored her for her dedication to improving access and quality of service to the Latino community. She also received the Rompe Piedra Award from 100 Hispanic Women National, Inc. in recognition of her achievements throughout her professional career.
Dianne has been inducted into the Strong Nonprofits NY Women in Human Services Hall of Fame and was named to City & State’s Women’s Power 100. She has been featured in Hispanic Executive Magazine’s Leading Latinas. She is also a Pahara-Aspen Fellow, a program for diverse and innovative leaders who are reimagining America’s public schools.
Human Services Council & Human Services Action Board Member Reception
Personal Background
Dianne is an Afro-Boricua who grew up in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. She has focused her life on supporting communities in creating sustainable change for social and economic justice. She has been a fierce advocate for justice, including organizing for police reform and investment in communities as a pathway to true safety. She ran for mayor of NYC in 2021 as an outside candidate. Dianne has graduate degrees from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Columbia University, as well as a Bachelor’s in psychology from the State University of New York in Stony Brook. She serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of Ramapo for Children and Human Services Action.