Diesa Seidel

Depending on the day, you may find Diesa playing professional basketball in Italy, renovating a school in the Bush Country of West Africa, running the NYC Marathon for peace, meeting with UN officials in the Cote d’Iviore, visiting a Buddhist Temple in Thailand, working with Habit for Humanity in Guyana, Coaching a Christian Basketball team in Korea, or meeting with the Minister of Sports of Sri Lanka. She also thinks she is a killer snowboarder.

Regardless of the day, Diesa Seidel is an avid philanthropist who strives to find innovative ways to serve local and international communities. As an educator and athlete, she has a keen interest in creating positive recreational opportunities for youth and encouraging standards for higher education.

Diesa is the Founder and Director of United Initiatives for Peace, Inc.
{United Initiatives for Peace (UI) is a global non-profit organization that collaborates with a variety of institutions (charitable, governmental, religious, educational, medical, corporate) to establish philanthropic and humanitarian service projects dedicated to the holistic evolution of the human race. UI’s primary focus is to assist high need areas and developing countries challenged with political unrest, religious conflict, natural disasters, and economic instability through innovative solutions designed to sustain peaceful and thriving communities. UI believes in the innate goodness of humanity and strives to enrich the lives of all people: embracing diversity and celebrating each other’s race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, and creed.}
Enabling organizations. Enabling philanthropy. Enabling humanity.
United Initiatives for Peace: Enabling Global Synergy.

Diesa currently works as a Physical Education teacher and runs basketball camps and clinics and for youth of all ages (Diesel Hoops, DBA). She is pursuing her Master’s Degree in Public Administration (Non-Profit Management, Urban Education and Leadership) and aspires to establish her own Charter School by 2020.

Diesa has visited over 40 countries and has been recognized on 10 occasions as an Ambassador for Peace by various service project organizations.

{Diesa started her basketball career in her hometown in Upstate New York. There she became her high school's all-time leading scorer (scoring over 1500 points), was named "New York State Player of the Year" in 1997, and was recruited nationally to play Division I basketball.
Following high school, she was granted a full athletic scholarship to play D-I basketball at Marist College. She has been recognized both regionally and nationally for her accomplishments, being named an "Academic All-American." At Marist, she became the all-time leader in blocked shots in a single game, season, and career. Despite injuries, she scored over 1200 points, ranking her amongst the top offensive players in the conference. In 2002 she was named "Marist Sports Person of the Year."
Throughout her summers in college, she earned a spot playing on French Jr. and Sr. National Teams, where she competed in the Jr. European Championships and in the Francophone Games.
After her collegiate career, Diesa played professionally in both France and Italy. While overseas, she played at National Pro A level and competed in the Euroleague (top professional European league). During her rookie season, her team reached the national finals and was awarded the silver medal.}

Diesa works, studies, serves, and resides in New Jersey. She is 27 years old.