Diana Rhoten, PhD

Diana is a senior philanthropy advisor at Climate Lead, where she works with donors and foundations to accelerate high-impact climate solutions. She helps philanthropists translate ambition into strategy by clarifying priorities, identifying catalytic investments, and deploying capital in ways that drive meaningful systems change. With more than two decades of experience at the intersection of climate policy and innovation, Diana’s work spans early research on the human dimensions of global climate change to designing and launching initiatives that mobilize public, private, and philanthropic capital to advance clean energy deployment, climate resilience, and community-based climate finance.

Prior to Climate Lead, Diana was a partner at Purpose Venture Group, advising mission-driven ventures of all stages on strategies to scale climate impact. Earlier, she held leadership roles at IDEO, where she helped launch the Organizational Design for Change practice and led the New York studio. Diana began her career at Stanford, working on social innovation and impact with global institutions such as the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank.