Dianne Morales is running for Mayor of New York City. Dianne believes that we must uplift those who are most vulnerable and have historically been left behind. There is transformative potential in this crisis to create a new social compact that recognizes our interdependence & the power of collective action to create new possibilities for a just recovery. Our City thrives when every woman is able to live safely, every family has a pathway to economic opportunity and every child has access to quality education.

Dianne has lived experiences as: a Bed-Stuy native, nonprofit CEO, single mom of two, first-generation college grad, educator & advocate, and Afro-Latina.

Dianne was born in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, to two working-class Puerto Rican parents, who believed that the American Dream was not just a promise that success was possible for everyone – but a promise to lift others as they climb.

From a very early age, Dianne watched her parents serve as a support system for neighbors and family who the city’s safety net failed. As a single mom of two, Dianne is personally familiar with the difficulties of navigating both the education and healthcare systems of NYC when trying to do what is best for her children. This has fueled Dianne’s life-long commitment to fix the broken systems that block millions from the American Dream.

When Hurricane Maria devastated her family’s home island, Dianne provided aid to some of the areas that had been hardest hit. As a result of her experiences, she helped establish the Fundación de Mujeres en Puerto Rico to continue supporting women’s leadership and representation in providing services and developing solutions that serve and protect women’s interests in the island’s rebuilding.

Dianne is committed to providing access for all New Yorkers to: good Jobs with livable and equitable wages, affordable and quality housing, excellent and equal education, and quality healthcare.

Dianne has an undergraduate degree from Stony Brook University and graduate degrees from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Columbia University.

Dianne’s over 25 years of experience in the nonprofit sector has given her a deep understanding of our city’s dysfunctional education, justice, and health care systems. During this time she has served as one of the founding board members of Jump Start, Executive Director of the Door and CEO of Phipps Neighborhoods. She has personally been involved with: creating a national early childhood model that increased literacy and strengthened the teacher pipeline, establishing cross-sector partnerships that provided un/underemployed South Bronx residents with career pathways into healthcare, engaging homeless LGBTQ youth in education programming and providing housing for those aging out of foster care, supporting homeless families in securing stable housing and economic stability.

Her leadership and advocacy in education, employment, and social justice have improved the lives of New Yorkers in our City’s most under-resourced neighborhoods and created permanent pathways out of poverty for every type of New Yorker from single moms to the formerly incarcerated and the homeless.

Dianne is a new kind of leader who will build the city we deserve. A leader with the courage to fight for every family. One with real connection to the struggles of everyday New Yorkers – and the expertise and creativity to design the solutions our communities truly need.