Dyana was the first in her immediate family to graduate from college and then began working for the City of Austin. As a court clerk in the Travis County jail, Dyana saw first hand the devastating impact of systems and laws that targeted undocumented immigrants, kept low-income Texans in a debtors’ prison, and ripped parents away from their children. It was in that courtroom that Dyana learned how accurate and efficient court administration deeply impacted the lives of Travis County residents.

That experience motivated Dyana to fight for families through public policy. With her years of courtroom experience, an MBA, and her consistent work ethic she earned a position working in the Texas Legislature with a focus on bills that moved through the House Committees on Corrections and on County Affairs to advance criminal justice reform. 

Dyana's work to fight injustice and inequality in our community didn't end there. Her advocacy and community work continued with the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, the Coalition of Texans With Disabilities, and Annie's List. 

Dyana is currently the Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Texas Votes where she oversees statewide advocacy and electoral campaigns. She has been part of the Planned Parenthood family for more than a decade, fighting for a Texas where every person has access to the full range of reproductive health care services. Dyana has been a pioneer for reproductive health and rights in Texas, spearheading a decade-long leadership development program that has trained thousands of young advocates and future leaders of the reproductive rights movement, running campaigns that have reached more than 500,000 voters, and helping to build the organization to over one million supporters strong. As Executive Director, she manages  a statewide team, collaborates with organizational partners from the local to the national level, works with governmental entities and officials to advance public policy priorities and oversees multi-million dollar budgets.

In 2018, 48,627 Travis County voters elected Dyana as the Travis County Democratic Party Chair, the first Hispanic person — of any gender — to do so. As Chair, Dyana innovated and expanded voter education and outreach efforts, and helped Travis County to achieve record voter turnout in a midterm election. 

She earned her MBA from the University of Texas at San Antonio and her BBA from Texas State University. She graduated from Austin High School and is raising her two daughters in South Austin with her husband, near the same neighborhoods her parents and grandparents grew up in.