Diesa holds French and American nationalities. She has a French mother and an Austrian father. She has progressed through her life-experiences and initiations as a collegiate scholarship athlete, professional athlete, private school teacher, coach, and ultimately as the founding director for the accredited non-profit United Initiatives for Peace. After a distinguished athletic career at Red Hook High School (Red Hook, NY), Diesa graduated cum laude from Marist College (Poughkeepsie, NY), receiving her B.A. in Psychology/Public Relations. Following a professional basketball career in France and Italy, Diesa developed a passion for teaching and became a Physical Education teacher. She taught for four years at St. Virgil’s Academy in New Jersey. During that time, Diesa also worked on creating a character education through sports curriculum with Peace Dream Foundation, where she co-presented seminars to thousands of athletic clubs throughout south Asia. Diesa participated in numerous international service projects, completing over 15 programs in 13 countries with four organizations. Through her experiences, she has honed a keen interest in global issues, specifically those invoking gender equality. Diesa is bilingual in English and French and has traveled and served in more than 58 countries on five continents. Her untiring commitment to positive social change has been recognized worldwide. Today, Diesa enjoys competing in triathlons and marathons, snowboarding, surfing, hiking, cycling, indoor rock climbing, coaching basketball, and organizing service trips that bring sports and recreation to under-served populations.