Dr. Diane Chen is the Founder and Executive Director of Institute of Consumer Money Management (ICMM), a nonprofit research-centered organization. ICMM’s mission is to conduct and provide funding for research and studies that promote positive spending behaviors and consumer asset building with the focus on improving low and moderate income population’s financial well being. Diane is the founder and served as Chief Executive Officer of Consumer Education Services Inc (CESI), a 501C3 credit counseling agency from 1998 to 2017. In the last two decades, she has lead CESI to become one of the top credit counseling agencies in US. Prior to founding CESI in 1998, Dr. Chen was the President of New China Development Corporation for six years. In that capacity, she helped many North Carolina businesses, government agencies, and educational institutions establish partnerships with China, and worked as a consultant to facilitate the trade and business missions between the US and China.
In August of 2010, Diane was awarded the prestigious Triangle Business Journal Women In Business award as an Entrepreneur. She was also a recipient of the 2010 Business Leaders Women Extraordinaire award. She currently holds positions as the member of Community Development Steering Committee of BB&T Bank, the Advisory Board Members of National Foundation of Credit Counseling(NFCC), First Citizens Bank, and Enterprising Women Magazine. In addition, she is on the board of UUFR Foundation at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh. Diane has one adult son – he is an Associate US Attorney at Southern District US Attorney’s Office of New York.
Diane earned her master and doctorate degrees in adult education from North Carolina State University.