Diana Apostolides is a seasoned policy leader and strategic advisor with close to 15 years of experience supporting and influencing public policy. She brings deep expertise in evidence-based policymaking, results-based program design, and strategic government relations to her role as Director of Policy and Strategy at the Future Skills Centre.

Prior to joining FSC, Diana served as Vice President of Strategy and Operations at JN Clarke Consulting, a private government relations firm where she led the firm’s strategic direction and operations. In this role, she supported a diverse range of non-profit clients in developing and executing government relations strategies, securing public funding, and ensuring strong alignment with policy priorities. Her work included advising on compliance, results reporting, and the delivery of high-impact programs that met donor and public accountability standards.

Over the course of her career, Diana has secured more than $150 million CAD in public and philanthropic funding across sectors including education, health, gender equality, and climate resilience. Her success is rooted in her ability to design initiatives that are both operationally sound and strategically aligned with policy objectives—ensuring policy coherence from concept to implementation within a results-based management framework.

She has held senior roles at organizations such as Amref Health Africa, Save the Children Canada, and the Mastercard Foundation, where she managed complex multi-country initiatives and led institutional partnerships and evaluation strategies. Diana’s work has spanned sub-Saharan Africa, South and Central Asia, and the Middle East, always grounded in inclusive and data-driven approaches to advancing social and economic outcomes.

Her international policy perspective was shaped early in her career through field-based roles with the Aga Khan Foundation in Afghanistan, ACTED in Pakistan, and UNHCR in Bangladesh, where she developed and delivered humanitarian and development programming, crafted advocacy tools, and secured high-value support from bilateral and multilateral donors.

Diana holds a Master of Science in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and a Graduate Diploma in Public Policy and Program Evaluation from Carleton University. She is passionate about connecting evidence with practice and supporting organizations to engage effectively in the policy ecosystem