Lara Diez has a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Sussex University and an MSc in Health Economics from York University.  In the UK, Lara worked for the NHS, Home Office, GlaxoWellcome and as a Management Consultant for Andersen. In 2002 Lara joined Voluntary Services Overseas and went to Namibia on a 6 month voluntary placement and ended up staying for 18 years. While there she became Director of an NGO supporting two indigenous San communities, the Nyae Nyae Development Foundation of Namibia.  

In the position of Director, Lara was responsible for fund raising, project management and the interface between international donors such as the EU, WWF and Brot fur die Welt and the highly impoverished and largely illiterate indigenous communities. 

Lara joined UCC Academy in 2021, completed a PG Dip in Innovation through Design Thinking in 2022 and is now working as a Programme Manager overseeing projects such as the Global Design Challenge as well as Business Development and Resource Management for the Project Centre.