The Benefits—and Challenges—of Adding an Equity Lens to Philanthropy Practices
Posted on October 10, 2023 by Diana Tyler Heath, June L. Wilson

Diana Tyler Heath is the chief operating officer at the National Center for Family Philanthropy (NCFP). As COO, Diana manages the building, maintenance, and upgrading of the systems, practices, and policies that promote the vitality and success of NCFP and that nurture an innovative, inclusive culture of learning and improvement. She oversees planning and learning, financial management, human resources, and organization and board operations. In partnership with the CEO and chief impact officer, Diana is instrumental in revising and implementing NCFP’s strategic plan to better equip donors with the tools and resources they need to adopt effective practices and achieve impact in their giving.
Prior to joining NCFP in 2022, Diana worked as a consultant in the philanthropic space, having spent more than 11 years in various roles at Arabella Advisors. Diana spent her first eight years in Arabella’s family and individual practice, ultimately serving as the practice and business lead. She helped families structure their governance, prepare to scale, refine their strategies, navigate transitions, and integrate the next generation. In her subsequent and final role at Arabella, she oversaw people, learning, and DEI for Arabella’s fiscal sponsorship practice, a team that numbered more than 175 people at the time. In this role, she ensured that the team had the skills and capacity to support more than 300 fiscally sponsored projects.
Diana has also worked as a government consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton and as a fundraiser with the US Ski and Snowboard Foundation.
Diana holds a bachelor of arts degree in economics from Cornell University and an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. She lives in Virginia, and in her spare time, she and her husband try to keep up with their elementary-school-aged children’s active extracurricular and social lives. She aspires to spend more time on the water and on snow and to travel to new places.
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