Diana Aviv  
President & CEO, Independent Sector

Diana Aviv is the president and CEO of Independent Sector, the national leadership forum for charities, foundations, and corporate giving programs committed to advancing the common good in America and around the world. A nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition of approximately 500 organizations that collectively represents tens of thousands of charitable groups across the country, Independent Sector leads, strengthens, and mobilizes the charitable community in order to fulfill our vision of a just and inclusive society of active citizens, vibrant communities, effective institutions, and healthy democracy.

A noted expert on the major issues affecting the national nonprofit and philanthropic community, Diana is a frequent speaker on the accountability and transparency of nonprofit organizations, the financial state of the nonprofit sector, the role of civil society in democracy, and civic engagement. She has testified before Congress and has been quoted in print, broadcast, and online media outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and National Public Radio.

Diana also serves as executive director of the Panel on the Nonprofit Sector, an independent panel of charitable and philanthropic leaders convened by Independent Sector in October 2004 at the encouragement of the leadership of the Senate Finance Committee. The Panel’s charge is to consider and recommend actions that will strengthen good governance, ethical conduct, and effective practice of public charities and private foundations. The Panel released its Interim Report in March 2005, a Final Report in June 2005, and has just issued a supplement to the Final Report. It will continue its work this year to develop recommendations on financial reporting standards, improvements to the Forms 990 and 990-PF, and self-regulation by charitable organizations, and will also identify sample governance policies.

Diana came to Independent Sector in April 2003 after nine years at United Jewish Communities. As UJC’s vice president for public policy and director of the Washington Action Office, she worked closely with federations and national agencies concerned with the domestic health and welfare needs of vulnerable people. Diana’s work focused on federal legislation, public policy, and regulations concerning health and human service areas that have an impact on the work of local health and human service organizations.

Diana was formerly associate executive vice chair at the Jewish Council of Public Affairs, director of programs for the National Council of Jewish Women, and director of a comprehensive program to serve battered women and their families. She has had a private psychotherapy practice in New York and New Jersey and has served as an expert witness in capital cases in New Jersey. She is immediate past chair of the National Immigration Forum, is an advisory board member of the Stanford Social Innovation Review and The Center for Effective Philanthropy, is a member of the Board of Governors of the Partnership for Public Service, and is a member of the Board of Directors of GuideStar. A native of South Africa, Diana graduated with a B.S.W. from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and received a Master of Social Work degree at Columbia University.

Independent Sector works to fulfill its mission by convening opportunities for sector leaders to work together on key issues; by promoting policies that enable nonprofits to engage with public officials on a nonpartisan basis; by supporting the development and dissemination of strategies to strengthen volunteering, voting, giving, and other forms of citizen engagement; by encouraging the sector to meet the highest standards of ethical practice and effectiveness; and by serving as the voice of the independent sector to the media, government, business, and international voluntary communities.

Articles by Diana Aviv: (1)