Spotlight: Diana I. Acosta
Diana I. Acosta leads dynamic multi-million dollar domestic and international programs and is a visionary leader with a proven track record of cultivating innovative strategic partnerships to drive social impact worldwide.
Ms. Acosta, a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, is an Inclusive Development & Global Health senior manager and currently serves as the Acting Director of the Inclusive Development Hub at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). In this role, Ms. Acosta leads a team that works globally to reduce risks to marginalized populations and to reinforce the capacities of communities, civil society, and governments to provide services and protect and promote the human rights of populations traditionally absent from the development equation. The EI Division coordinates U.S. Government initiatives addressing the mental health and psychosocial needs of survivors of torture and trauma, physical rehabilitation services for civilian victims of conflict, increased global access to innovative assistive technologies, advancing the rights of persons with disabilities, LGBTI people, Indigenous Peoples, Youth and protecting at-risk children in over 70 countries.
At USAID across her tours of duty in Honduras, South Africa, Afghanistan, Jamaica and Washington D.C., Ms. Acosta has provided innovative solutions and partnerships in the areas of Global Health (Family Planning, HIV/AIDS and Infectious Diseases, Nutrition and Maternal & Child Health, WASH), domestic resource mobilization for social services, LGBTI human rights, environmental protection and resiliency, and early childhood education. Her mission is to increase investment in human capital that can help break cycles of poverty and political instability.
Ms. Acosta is a 2020 ICAP fellow, a founding Board Member of ATscale, the Global Partnership for Assistive Technology, and a Board Member of The Public Goods Project. Ms. Acosta's professional experiences include the Montefiore Medical Center's School Health Program, the Pan American Health Organization/WHO, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Minority Health, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute and the Office of the Public Advocate for the City of New York.
Ms. Acosta holds Bachelors in Health Science and Masters in Public Policy degrees from the State University of New York, at Stony Brook. She is also a proud mentor of the next generation of Black, Indigenous and People of Color leaders in Foreign Affairs across the many organizations in which she humbly volunteers.
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