Empowering women and girls is a way of life for Diane Flanagan. An enthusiastic and bold leader, she has mobilized communities to lift up women and girls around them. From collaborations with organizations in her own backyard to conversations with Pope Francis about enhancing the partnership between the Catholic Church and Girl Scouts, she prioritizes bringing people together to make meaningful and positive changes.

Diane has been a member of two Junior Leagues over the last 20 years: the Junior League of El Paso (JLEP) and the Junior League of Charleston (JLC), where she is currently a Sustainer. As a Sustainer, she has established a partnership between JLC and Girl Scouts of Eastern South Carolina (GSESC), of which she is CEO, to support the JLC Diaper Bank, connect members of both organizations, and create opportunities to mentor girls. As President-Elect and President of JLEP from 2015-2017, she spearheaded the transition to an issue-based community impact program model. Other roles include Chair of JLEP’s Endowment Fund Board, Chair of Advisory and Strategic Planning, and Vice President of Finance.

Years of volunteer work with the Junior League inspired Diane to pivot from a 25-year career in automotive engineering —where she supervised her Mexico-based staff in Spanish—to running Girl Scouts of the Desert Southwest and GSESC. Today, she manages all of GSESC’s operations that provide leadership development for girls and volunteers. Since her tenure began in mid-2018, she has increased membership of girls by 5.7 percent—the first in over 10 years—volunteer satisfaction ratings by 150 percent, and product sales revenues by 24 percent.

In addition to the Junior League, Diane is a board member of the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry. Previously, she was an At-Large Member of the Catholic Youth Foundation, USA’s Nominating Committee; a member of the University of Texas at El Paso President’s Advisory Council; and a member of the El Paso Executive Forum. Diane was inducted into the El Paso Commission for Women’s Hall of Fame in 2013 for her exceptional work in civic leadership. That same year, she received the Silver Patrick Henry Award from the Military Order of World Wars for outstanding service.

Diane received a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from Vanderbilt University and a Master of Business Administration from Northwestern University.