Diahann billings burford biography
Diahann Billings-Burford ’86
After Grace, Diahann attended Poly Prep, Yale and Columbia University School of Law. She began as a history teacher, then a curriculum developer, and next a corporate attorney, and then went on to focus her professional career on improving the quality of educational opportunity in New York City.She served as Director of College Guidance and Director of Leadership Development Opportunities at Prep for Prep, an organization she credits with giving her the opportunity to attain a life-changing education.
From there, she took a position as the Director of External Affairs (NY) for Achievement First, a charter school management organization.
Always interested in service, went to work at City Year New York, a leading volunteer service organization that has worked to engage young people in service for the benefit of New York Citys public school children.
In June , Diahann was named New York Citys (and the nations) first Chief Service Officer, responsible for leading NYC Service, a city-wide initiative to promote volunteerism.
Diahann billings burford biography Andrew has also spent time working in Detroit assisting with the development of evaluation systems for youth sport programs and with the design and facilitation of training programs for coaches and mentors. She is incredibly passionate about human rights and social justice and is excited to combine that with her passion for sports to help create a better community for all. Corey Posey is a skilled educator, leader, and facilitator. More recently, due to his keen interest in sport and youth development, Andrew has worked both within the United States as well as internationally helping various organizations to design and implement sport initiatives that build life skills and character.The program was an answer to President Obamas national call for service. Diahann led NYC Service to set a new standard for how cities can tap the power of their people to tackle most pressing challenges, guided by three overarching goals: Help more New Yorkers connect to service opportunities more easily; target volunteers to address the Citys greatest needs; and promote service as a core part of what it means to be a citizen of the greatest city in the world.
Since the change in the Citys administration, Diahann has moved on, now Head of Corporate Responsibility for Time Warner.
Her commitment to service and improving educational opportunities continues to permeate her work and her life. She serves as a board member for the Childrens Aid Society College Preparatory School, a service in schools organization called buildOn and a member of the board of the New York City Housing Authority.
TRAILBLAZER FACTS:
- Mayor Bloomberg appointed Diahann the nations first-ever municipal Chief Service Officer, charged with the launch of NYC Service,a division of the Mayors Office that taps the power of the people to meet pressing challenges.
- NYC Services program helped bring over 9 million New Yorkers to volunteer their time to serve all 5 boroughs.
- Among the 25 initiatives NYC Service embraced, Cool Roofs is a standout. In four years, Diahann led over 5, volunteers to paint over five million square feet of rooftop white across the city.
This simple idea combats climate change by reducing the citys energy demand during heat waves.
Diahann says, Cool Roofs is where SCIENCE meets CIVIC engagement.
- Since its founding in , NYC Service has served as a partner and model for the launch of similar programs in London, Athens, Madrid as well as other cities and suburbs around the world.