“I love to work alongside educators to disrupt current education systems in order to create environments that support students and their families in achievement!” (Cornejo-Sanchez, D).

Dr. Diana Cornejo-Sanchez is a first-generation college graduate, bilingual, and daughter of immigrants. Growing up in a large family, she always found herself in the teacher role, dreaming of one day becoming a maestra. 

Diana started her educational journey as a high school Humanities teacher as a founding teacher of High Tech High Media Arts, where she taught and mentored new teachers for over 10 years. After teaching, Diana joined the University of San Diego’s Jacob’s Institute for Innovation in Education, where she supported large urban school districts in strategic thinking to address systemic change to create learning environments that provide students with active learning experiences. Diana then served as a school principal where she led the transformation to a project-based learning (PBL)approach. Her passion for supporting teachers brought her back to the High Tech High (HTH) organization as the Director of the HTH Teacher Center, where she led the teacher preparation program for novice teachers and their mentors. While Diana loved her role in developing new teachers and their mentors, she longed to be back in schools. As the Director of Instructional Leadership and Development, she currently supports HTH's sixteen schools where she works alongside the leadership team to ensure deeper learning experiences through a liberatory PBL.

Diana holds a Doctorate of Education with a focus on Educational Leadership from San Diego State University where she completed her dissertation titled, “The Influence of Instructional Coaches on Novice Teacher Efficacy and Retention. She also holds a Masters of Education in Language, Literacy, and Culture from the University of San Diego.

When Diana is not collaborating and designing with educators, she is cheering on her twins, Amélie and Diego. Seeing them learn through exploration is what she finds great joy in and hopes every student can do the same.