Diana Perdomo, a 2013 graduate of Brown University’s Master of Public Affairs (MPA) program, grew up in Downey, California, a short drive from Los Angeles. Coming of age in the 1990s, Diana witnessed her city erupt following the acquittal of four LAPD officers in the beating and arrest of Rodney King. Growing up in this tumultuous era of civil unrest sparked a long-standing interest in public affairs and social justice that ultimately led her to Brown’s MPA program.
“At a young age, I remember seeing the injustice that played out, and how an entire community came out in protest, and the impact that had throughout the entire area.”
She cited moments from the L.A. riots and scenes from the news the year before — Operation Desert Storm and the U.S. aerial bombardment of Iraq — as two of three events from her upbringing that made her ask: “How can I help people in need?”
The third pivotal moment came as she was getting ready to move into her freshman dormitory at the University of California, Santa Barbara, on September 11, 2001, and the Twin Towers fell.
Diana began her undergraduate studies as a communications major, curious to learn how to craft compelling press releases. However, she switched to global studies because she believed it would have more practical applications. She reasoned she could learn how to synthesize difficult information into policy memos while simultaneously developing a deeper understanding of socioeconomics and politics.
After completing her undergraduate degree, Perdomo moved to New York City, working primarily in the nonprofit sector for organizations dedicated to expanding educational access and opportunities for children and sustainable, safe housing for families.
In 2009, in the wake of the Great Recession, Perdomo decided to leave the U.S. “At that point, I’d been living in New York for five years,” she said, “I was engaged to my now-husband, and I thought, ‘Let’s get out of here. Let’s take a break. Let’s do something different.’”
The couple moved to Hat Yai, Thailand, where they taught English to high-school students. When they returned to the U.S., they settled in Rhode Island. Her husband entered law school, and Perdomo set her sights on graduate school. She took a position in the Provost’s Office at Brown University, where she worked as an international affairs liaison, later transitioning to a global relations officer.
“I knew Brown had an employee education program that I could take advantage of, and I had my eye on their MPA program. The benefit of potentially earning a free master’s degree made it really worthwhile. So as soon as I was eligible, I applied to Watson.”
As a Brown employee, Perdomo worked to support and develop global partnerships for students and international scholars. “At one point, I got to go to India to meet with the Global Education and Leadership Foundation about developing a center for ethical studies at Brown,” she said. “Having the opportunity to do that kind of work and then diving into the practice of policies and understanding at Watson was a really great experience.”
As a student in Pete Marino’s fiscal management and public budgeting class, she practiced making tough budget cuts — skills she later used as chief of policy for the City of Providence.
“It was an incredibly practical class,” said Perdomo. “Part of it is weighing all of the needs and then making a priority statement with the budget. You never think about the budget as a moral document, but what you care about the most is what you’re going to keep within that budget.” Perdomo would later find these skills essential in her role as chief of policy for Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza.
In a class with Susan Moffitt, Perdomo closely examined feasibility. “Susan was always asking the tough questions on practical implications,” Perdomo recalled. “You can make a hypothetical statement and hope to achieve it, but without feasibility, it’s impossible. Looking at feasibility as a screen for how we put forward policy is incredibly important, and that was something we honed in on during the program at Brown.”
After earning her MPA, Perdomo became the director of grants and strategic initiatives at United Way of Rhode Island and later served as chief of policy and executive director of the PVD Rescue Plan for the City of Providence. In 2020, she oversaw the city’s $166 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds from the American Rescue Plan.
During her tenure with the city, the state took control of Providence Public Schools. In her role as chief of policy, Perdomo facilitated a series of community discussions in which parents and residents aired their grievances and shared concerns. It was a tense, emotional time for the city, and Perdomo leaned heavily on the conflict-negotiating skills she had developed at Brown.
