Diane Ward

Director of State Education Policy

Contact Diane Ward

Diane Ward is the director of state education policy for JFF’s “High School Through College” team. She focuses on state policies that help improve high school and postsecondary success rates for underserved students—specifically those that expand early college high schools and other early college designs so that more students can gain college experience and earn credits while still in high school.

Ms. Ward is an accomplished policy advisor and an award-winning journalist. Before joining JFF, she served as director of the New York State Senate Education Committee and spent 10 years advocating on behalf of more than 700 school districts in New York as a lobbyist for the state’s School Boards Association. She has also been a news anchor, reporter, and producer at TV and radio outlets across New York, Massachusetts, and Kansas. Her work in broadcasting  has earned her several awards including: a New York State Associated Press award for Best Local Documentary; and a New York State Broadcasters Association award for Outstanding Public Affairs Program Series.

Ms. Ward has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Kansas.