Diana Kachman

About Diana

Diana was born in San Jose, California to an undocumented Peruvian mother. They lived in a garage alone before CPS became involved. To avoid CPS, Diana was sent to Peru with her grandmother until her mother could afford an apartment. By the time she was five, she had moved to Washington State and met her stepfather, who became a real dad in every way. He taught her how to speak English by the time she entered kindergarten and fostered her love of books by reading to her every night. Diana spent her time with her grandparents before her grandmother succumbed to Alzheimer’s Disease, which influenced her desire to work with the elderly. She remained close to her still-living grandparents, learning to love their stories and appreciate their individuality. One grandpa loved haggling at garage sales, the other was an avid Sudoku fan after a career as a math professor, and her grandmother loved outdoor adventures, including hiking and trying to catch crabs with her bare hands. Diana attended Seattle Preparatory School. During this time, she volunteered at a retirement home, won the Academic Award for Literature, and earned college credits from the University of Washington.   Diana left to attend Carleton College in Minnesota and felt deeply motivated to major in English while pursuing pre-health opportunities. She led the volunteer group Adopt a Grandparent as the Program Director, coordinated events and fundraising efforts as a board member of the Latin American Student Organization, and mentored within the Carleton Pre-Health Association. She worked as a CNA in Northfield at a hospital, a retirement home, and in-home care, learning about the differences in treatment. She discovered that she inherited a love for seeing new places from her mother, traveling to Alaska to intern as a Production Assistant, across the states between Northfield and Selma to learn about civil rights history, and to Ecuador to study traditional medicine and public health. She gained valuable research experience from her time in Ecuador, researching occidental and traditional medicine in the indigenous communities of Quito as well as from Seattle Children’s Research Institute, studying behavioural parent training programs in underserved communities.   While at Carleton, Diana was awarded the prestigious Weitz Fellowship, securing her a yearlong role with the non-profit organization Autism Action Partnership (AAP) in Nebraska. Currently, Diana actively contributes to all of AAP’s initiatives, with a primary focus on Project Lifesaver, aimed at reuniting children with autism who wander, with their families. Diana completed her BA at Carleton in June 2023.