Diana Ganger, M.S.W., works as a coach and consultant in Organizational and Educational settings. A long-time Jewish educator, she was a graduate of the Wexner Heritage Foundation and is a recipient of the 2008 Covenant Award for Excellence in Jewish Education. She made aliyah to Israel from Argentina with her husband and earned her B.A. degree in social work from Haifa University, and then her M.S.W. at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. In Israel she implemented her first intergenerational program between a high school and and the elder residents in a retirement home. She specialized in gerontological social work and family therapy.
In 1985, Diana became Director of the Moriah Early Childhood Center, where she created a model of a family-centered school, that gained recognition throughout the country. She was a pioneer in fusing the Reggio Emilia approach and Judaism. In the mid 1990’s, Diana also implemented one of the first intergenerational programs in an early childhood center, that continues to thrive as grandparent figures “adopt” and become “adopted” in a classroom on a regular basis.
In 2004, Diana became Program Director of the Jewish Early Childhood Education Initiative (JECEI), spear ¬heading efforts to redefine how families and institutions can become co-visionaries of Jewish life. As Program Director for JECEI, she developed and implemented a national vision for Excellence in Jewish Education. Diana developed and oversaw the coaching and consulting work in schools across the country. The “JECEI” schools remain beacons of national excellence in Jewish Education.
Diana went on to develop and lead the Covenant Fellows mid-career Leadership Program, a national fellowship program. Diana worked at Rodfei Zedek, in Hyde Park IL, as the Director of Community Learning, to explore and implement a new educational vision.
Since then, Diana has led educational leadership fellowships for excellence in Jewish early childhood education for educational directors across denominations. She coaches and consults nationally and internationally, as the Director of DG1818ConsultingLLC. She has a diverse post denominational lens. Her consulting experience includes all movements from JCC’s to Orthodox schools. Diana is married to Daniel Ganger and is the thrilled grandmother of seven.
Communities/countries she has worked with: Chicago, Seattle, Baltimore/Washington DC, Florida , Cleveland, Atlanta, Kansas City, Boston, New York, Denver, Detroit, California, New Jersey, Connecticut, Israel, Bulgaria, Romania, Argentina, and Canada.
Diana’s areas of expertise include:

• Organizational and systems leadership
• Intergenerational work
• Leadership through Jewish lenses
• Excellence in Jewish education
• Self awareness and leadership
• Difficult conversations
• Administration
• Visioning
• Jewish Big Ideas
• Reggio Emilia Big Ideas
• Developing a learning community
• Culture change
• Inquiry and reflection as the new cultural DNA
• Collaboration and collegiality
• Appreciative inquiry and leadership
• Covenantal schools