Diane Hessan is an award-winning market researcher, trailblazing tech entrepreneur, and nationally recognized authority on the American voter.

She currently serves on the boards of Panera Brands, Eastern Bank, Brightcove, Sago, and the NACD New England Chapter, bringing strategic vision and a keen grasp of emerging trends to every table. In 2021, Diane was elected to NACD's prestigious Directorship 100™ and in 2024 was tapped to join the Blue Ribbon Commission on Technology Leadership in the Boardroom. In 2023, she was inducted into the Market Research Hall of Fame.

As the founder and chair of Communispace, Diane pioneered the use of social media to create meaningful, ongoing conversations between brands and their consumers, helping hundreds of major brands find inspiration and insight from their consumers. Her knack for uncovering hidden truths about people also fueled her groundbreaking, longitudinal study of the American electorate, which started in 2016 and continues today. The project yielded more than 50 widely read columns for The Boston Globe and culminated in her acclaimed book, Our Common Ground, a powerful exploration of what unites and divides the nation.

Diane recently launched Salient Ventures, a company dedicated to nurturing and accelerating promising startups. She has a BA from Tufts University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where she recently was recognized as Business and Community Leader of the Year. She is also the author of Customer-Centered Growth: 5 Strategies for Building Competitive Advantage, which was a Business Week best seller. She is the mother of two daughters, and is the founder of The Sound Bytes, an a cappella group that sings about business.