Diane Schrader

Diane Schrader is recognized as a global leader in climate finance. She is the founder and CEO of thirdACT, a Public Benefit Corporation that finances the transition of American homes to net-zero energy. In 2019, Diane launched the Climate Salon, a series of small global gatherings that convene the leaders of the world’s largest pools of capital to leverage the private markets to address climate change. Diane has a non-conventional background. She studied figurative painting at university, taught herself to code, then enjoyed a long career in the entertainment tech industry. She leapt into finance to explore the intersection of computer graphics and market data visualization. She launched the San Francisco chapter of 100 Women in Hedge Funds (now 100 Women in Finance), then served six years on the global Board of Directors for the 100WF Association and the 100WF Foundation. Diane has a long history of supporting students along their entrepreneurial path. Since 2015, she’s been a mentor/judge for Stanford’s Entrepreneurs in Engineering CEE 246. More recently, she was an advisor/mentor for Stanford’s inaugural Hacking for Climate class. In her spare time, she can be found hiking with her Azawakh puppy in the hills near Stanford.