Diane Standaert is a Senior Policy Advisor at HOPE, a Black-led, women-owned CDFI credit union, loan fund, and policy institute advancing economic opportunity across the Deep South. Diane rejoins HOPE following her services as a Senior Fellow at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau where she led initiatives focusing on the experiences of people in rural communities to ensure a fair, transparent, and competitive financial marketplace.
She previously served as Director of State Policy and Executive Vice President at the Center for Responsible Lending in Durham, NC, where she worked with bi-partisan coalitions and policymakers at the state and federal level to advance consumer protections against predatory lending practices. Diane has presented testimony in several state legislatures and in Congress, and served on the national governing committee for the American Bar Association’s Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law. Diane began her legal career as a fellow at the University of North Carolina Center for Civil Rights, where she worked in partnership with rural communities in North Carolina to get access to infrastructure like sewer and water. She is a graduate of Florida State University and the University of North Carolina School of Law.
