Diana Ayton-Shenker

About this Speaker

Diana Ayton-Shenker is CEO, Leonardo/ISAST; Executive Director, Leonardo-ASU Partnership; & Professor of Practice, School of the Future of Innovation in Society, and School for Arts, Media, & Engineering. She is also founding CEO of Global Momenta, a philanthropic strategy and impact innovation firm, and Global Catalyst Senior Fellow at The New School. The author and editor of four books, including “A New Global Agenda: Priorities, Practices, & Pathways of the International Community;” Diana's work has been featured in the World Economic Forum Agenda, Huffington Post, NPR. Before joining The New School, Ayton-Shenker founded the Fast Forward Fund, was honored by President Bill Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGIU), and selected as a Social Venture Network Social Innovation Award finalist. She served as Inaugural Nazarian Social Innovator in Residence at the Wharton School of Business, was named one of "25 Leading Women Changing the World" by Good Business New York, and was featured among “31 Inspiring Women in Nonprofit Management” by Univ. of North Carolina.

Her U.N. briefing paper “The Challenge of Universal Human Rights & Cultural Diversity” has been translated into all 6 official languages of the U.N. and cited in more than 100 books, articles, papers, & policies worldwide. She holds an L.L.M. in Int'l Human Rights Law (Univ. of Essex) and an Honors B.A. in Int'l Relations (University of Pennsylvania). She has lectured at Columbia University, Harvard, Yale, University of Pennsylvania,, and taught courses at The New School, Bard College, American Univ. of Paris, and Hunter College, where she directed the 1st undergraduate human rights program in the U.S. She has served as Mentor with CGIU, Unreasonable Institute, Social Good Startups, Global Engagement Summit, and PresenTense; and has served on advisory boards of Hydration Foundation, Earth Economics, Inspired Capital, and Human & Kind (formerly affiliated with Jane Goodall Institute).