Alumni Spotlight: Dianna Wynn
President, League of Women Voters of the United States
A.A. in Administration of Justice, 1983
As president of the League of Women Voters of the United States (LWVUS), Dianna Wynn helps lead one of the nation’s most respected nonpartisan organizations. But long before she was championing women’s electoral voices and defending democracy, she was a determined teenager forging her own path.
Born in Phoenix and raised in the Dallas area, Dianna moved to Southern California in high school. Rather than completing her senior year, she took the California High School Proficiency Exam and enrolled early at Cerritos College.
At Cerritos, she quickly found her footing. Though she initially planned to become an attorney, she discovered a deeper calling in communications.
Encouraged by her public speaking professor, Julie Venitsky, Dianna joined the Forensics (Speech & Debate) Team, where she began developing the skills that would shape her career.
For two years, the team became the center of her college experience. She traveled to weekend tournaments, spent long hours preparing with teammates, and served as team captain in her second year. The experience sharpened her communication, critical thinking, and leadership skills. It was also on the Cerritos Forensics Team that she met her husband, Brian Holland.
In 1983, she graduated from Cerritos College with an A.A. in Administration of Justice. Dianna went on to earn a B.A. in Speech Communication from California State University, Fullerton, where she continued competing in forensics, and later earned an M.S. in Communication from the University of North Texas.
Before joining the LWVUS Board, Dianna served as president of the League of Women Voters of Wake County in Raleigh, North Carolina. She previously served as communications director and chaired several key committees. Over the years, she has spoken publicly on numerous issues, been interviewed by media outlets, and appeared before government bodies.
She is also a past president of the ACLU of North Carolina, where she served on the board for several years.
For more than three decades, Dianna has trained businesses, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations. She has guided clients in strategic decision-making and taught essential communication skills. She also spent nearly a decade as a trial consultant, working with attorneys nationwide on complex civil litigation.
Her academic career includes full-time faculty roles at Nash Community College, Midland College, and Prince George’s Community College. At Prince George’s, she served as both Director of Forensics and Director of the Honors Program, earning the Outstanding Teacher of the Year award. She also taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland and the University of the District of Columbia.
Dianna is the co-author of several college textbooks, including Working in Groups, THINK Communication, and The Challenge of Communicating. Working in Groups has become a leading text in the field, with translated editions used worldwide.
In 2019, she was recognized in a UNC Chapel Hill oral history of notable women in North Carolina.
Looking back, Dianna sees her journey as a series of connected experiences, each building on the last. She remains a passionate believer in the power of community colleges to transform lives and encourages students to embrace every opportunity their education offers.
“As the League’s national president, I regularly speak publicly, and my early forensics training has been invaluable”, said Dianna. “Quite frankly, I can’t think of anything I’ve done professionally that wasn’t in some way influenced by my education at Cerritos College.”