Diana Rickert is Vice President of Communications at the Illinois Policy Institute, where she plays a key role in the organization's overall strategy and initiatives. She joined the Institute in 2011 after working for nine years as an award-winning journalist for legacy media outlets, including the Associated Press, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, suburban Chicago Daily Herald and Northwest Herald, among others. Diana expanded the Institute’s media footprint from a few hundred news placements per year to nearly 6,000 annually. Today the Institute regularly places stories and experts in Chicago and national news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, Fox News Channel, Fox Business, USA Today and NPR. In 2014, Diana lead Illinois Policy’s successful campaigns to defeat three state income tax increase proposals. PR News’ recognized Illinois Policy’s work on these campaigns in spring 2015 by awarding Illinois Policy with its coveted “Nonprofit PR Award” in the category "advocacy campaign and lobbying efforts.” In addition to her role at the Institute, Diana also writes a monthly column for the Chicago Tribune newspaper. She is married to her college sweetheart, Chuck, and mom to an energetic one-year-old.