Diana Mendley Rauner (born 1961) is an American businesswoman and president of Start Early, a non-profit in Chicago.[1] She served as the First Lady of Illinois from 2015 to 2019 as her husband, Bruce, served as governor.[2]
Rauner was born and raised in New York City, where she was the youngest of three children in a Reform Jewish home.[1] She attended Yale University, where she was also a champion fencer.[3] She was All-Ivy First Team in fencing in 1981-82, and 1982-83.[4][5] She received her MBA from Stanford University, and her PhD in development psychology from the University of Chicago.
First Lady of Illinois (2015-2019)
Rauner is a Democrat, but in 2014 when her husband Bruce Rauner, a Republican, became the Republican nominee for governor of Illinois in the 2014 Illinois gubernatorial election, Rauner appeared in a TV ad for her husband saying "I'm a lifelong Democrat, but enough is enough and the Democratic politicians in Springfield have got to be controlled and I know that is what my husband will do as governor."[6]
On July 18, 2016, Rauner announced a $15 million renovation project for the Illinois Executive Mansion, with the funding being raised privately.[7][8] The work was planned to be completed by the Illinois bicentennial in 2018.[7]
Other activities
She serves as president of Start Early, formerly known as the Ounce of Prevention Fund, an early-learning advocacy organization.[9] In June 2016, The Ounce of Prevention joined a lawsuit fund with other social organizations against her husband, the governor, and various state agencies; the lawsuit demanded payment for services rendered by the agencies, many of which had not received payment for over a year.[10]
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