Diana Isern
Educator, Author, Presenter & Financial Empowerment Advocate
Welcome! I'm Diana Isern, author of Money Talks: An Educator's Guide to Teaching Financial Empowerment coming from Beacon Press in August 2026. I’m a NYC school leader with 20 years in education and over a decade of experience transforming how we teach financial literacy. I love this work because young people deserve financial education that builds on their strengths, honors their diverse experiences, and empowers them to build wealth in ways that matter to them.
And I believe educators deserve that same support: practical tools, community, and encouragement to confidently teach financial literacy, even while learning alongside their students and families!
Let’s empower together.
Educator
I create relevant and engaging curriculum rooted in the RICH Framework (Representation, Inquiry, Connection, Holistic Thinking) from Money Talks. My materials emphasize wealth building through an asset-based teaching that honors the wealth our students already bring and amplifies diverse voices in financial spaces.
Presenter
I bring an interactive, educator-to-educator approach to every session because I believe in honoring the professionalism and lived experiences of everyone in the room. You'll leave with tools you can use immediately and the confidence to learn alongside your students.
Author
In Money Talks (Beacon Press), I share what I've learned teaching financial literacy to thousands of NYC students—from examining our own money stories as educators to building values-based budgets with young people. You'll find the RICH Framework, classroom-tested strategies, and tools to help learners move from 'I'm bad with money' to 'we’re learning about money.'
What Attendees Are Saying…
Really relevant info was shared and ways to connect with youth. Diana has great energy and is sharp!
The social media exercises and mapping activity made everything accessible and immediately relevant. So helpful!
-VD, California
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! Definitely fired me up more so. There were a lot of doable takeaways. Appreciative for this session. Loved her creativity and energy. The realism brought to the session was impactful, relevant, and purposeful. Thoroughly enjoyed this session.
-FH, Maryland
Excellent. Diana had GREAT energy!! Representation matters!!! I appreciate the intentional work she has done to be culturally relevant through scholars race, age and socioeconomic status! I wanted more time to engage in her activities!
-RP, Pennsylvania