Dianna English

As the Director of Programs, Dianna H. English is at the nexus of CIGI’s policy research and operations while driving outcomes aligned to the organization’s strategic goals and priorities. Dianna also leads the Digital Policy Hub Fellowship and CIGI’s program on Africa’s Digital Transformation.

Dianna spent 10 years working in the U.S. government, including serving as a Director for African affairs on the National Security Council staff and as an advisor to the Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights. She served at the U.S. Embassies in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in South Sudan, and as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Tanzania. Dianna also worked in research for the International Criminal Court in The Hague and as a research consultant with the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

She currently volunteers with Feed Scarborough’s community garden and previously supporting U.S. voters to return their ballots from abroad, with a refugee resettlement agency in New Haven, Connecticut, and as an emergency room crisis counsellor for the D.C. Rape Crisis Center in Washington, DC.