Diane Cohen, Executive Director
Long Island Fund for Women and Girls

Since Diane Cohen joined the Long Island Fund for Women and Girls as its executive director in 2000, she has shared with the organization her talents in the areas of strategic planning, administration, fundraising, and grant writing, along with a well-articulated sense of community and community building.

Ms. Cohen began her professional career in the Nassau County Office of Employment and Training as a research analyst.  In this capacity she planned the CETA (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act) program, a federally funded initiative to train and retrain unemployed and low income individuals for careers. In addition she spent several years evaluating the New York City CETA Program as part of its Independent Monitoring Unit. Furthering her career in public service, Ms. Cohen worked under the auspices of Mayor Edward I. Koch, administering one of his quality-of-life rating programs.

After Ms. Cohen and her new husband, Dan, planted their roots back on Long Island, Ms. Cohen used her fundraising and grant writing skill to the benefit of Long Island University as its assistant director of development, responsible for government and foundation funding.  While Ms. Cohen’s daughters were young, she worked on a consulting basis grant writing for various Long Island not-for-profits and schools.

Her vision for the Fund over the next three to five years is expressed as follows: To bring women together for the purpose strengthening our collective voice and will; to leverage the impact of women working together as philanthropists; and to influence public policy as it relates to the needs of Long Island women and girls.

Ms. Cohen, a native Long Islander, lives, works, vacations, and along with her husband, raises her two daughters here.

Ms. Cohen earned a Masters of Arts degree in Political Science, with an emphasis on public policy, from Stony Brook University.  She also earned her Bachelors degree from Stony Brook.

Now serving on the board of directors of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Central Nassau, Ms. Cohen is also an Advisory Council member of the Rauch Foundation’s Long Island Index. She will be honored by the Zonta Club of Long Island in March 2006 as a Woman of the Year.

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