Diana Conti

Diana Conti has been active on many boards and commissions in Marin County, particularly those dealing with families and the problems associated with drug and alcohol abuse. Diana is currently the Executive Director of Parca, an organization that serves people with developmental disabilities. In addition to her work with Parca, Diana is the Board President and co-founder of West Bay Housing Development Corporation, an organization dedicated to developing affordable housing for people with developmental disabilities. Diana also has her own consulting firm to assist groups across the country with public policy.Her career spans three decades as a nonprofit CEO, having directed alcohol and other drug treatment, prevention, and public policy programs; community support programs for low income and minority communities; adolescent and family counseling programs; and a criminal justice reform program. While Diana has always enjoyed her advocacy work, it was not until she joined Emerge that she realized she should run for political office. “There have always been candidates I have helped support, but Emerge positioned me to be candidate myself.” After her Emerge training, Diana started participating in the Democratic Central Committee meetings and moved through the ranks as an appointed associate and then an elected delegate. “The relationships that I built through that position,” she said, “motivated people to start approaching me to run for the College of Marin Board of Trustees.” Diana is a member of the Executive Board of the American Public Health Association in Washington, D.C.; and she is Chair of Thrive: the Alliance of Nonprofits for San Mateo.Her current term on the College of Marin Board of Trustees expires in 2013.