Managing Director

NASHVILLE - Diane has spent most of her life adapting to change. Moving 23 times by the age of 16, she was always the “new girl”. At an early age, she learned the importance of understanding the pattern language of a group and learning how to adapt. Out of this experience, Diane has evolved a powerful emotional intelligence and intuition that serves her well in working with individuals and groups in transition.

She has learned to approach new opportunities, take risks and constantly learn and try new experiences.

As a facilitator with Alphachimp Studio, Diane focuses on the processes of collaborative design work with organizations of all sizes. She brings with her an amazing ability to understand the culture of a group and recognize the tangible qualities that bond people together.

At the age of 18, Diane started her career in Theatre at Northlake Community College as an actress and stage manager. She worked as much time building sets as she did acting on them. Through this experience she discovered the meaning of collaboration, innovation, and creative problem solving. She went on to receive a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre from the University of Texas at Austin.

With a stage management degree in hand, she headed out in the world of theatre and discoverd that the creative theatre world is much like the world of business. She quickly realized she could apply her artistic, creative talents to crafting authentic experiences for business people to collaborate and innovate.

In 1996, she joined the virtual team of knowledge workers at the Ernst & Young Accelerated Solutions Environment. Diane fell in love with the cross-disciplined teams of creative people who shared a common passion for facilitating collaborative design sessions.

In 1998, she helped launch Alphachimp Studio, Inc. in Chicago with her then boyfriend, Peter Durand. The two were married in 2001, and they moved home and studio to Pittsburgh on April Fool’s Day of 2002. In 2004-- the Year of the Monkey on the Chinese calendar--a new addition to the team came along, a beautiful little girl named Lillian. Lucy followed in 2008.

Now, Diane and Peter are learning to run a successful business while trying to be successful parents.

She loves fabric and quilting with her girls. You can see some of Diane recent fabric creations at http://thislittlefish.etsy.com