It’s women’s history month and we’re pleased to announce the appointment of two women to LSSNY’s Board of Directors.

Please welcome Deacon Diana R. Auer, Esq., Director of Youth and Family Ministry at the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection in Garden City, NY.

Ms. Auer graduated from the University of Virginia in 2011, with a Bachelor of Arts. During her time at UVA, she served as Vice President of her sorority, Delta Zeta, as well as President of the Sexual Assault Peer Advocacy (“SAPA”), through which she trained sororities and fraternities in bystander intervention and how to support survivors of intimate partner and domestic violence.

Ms. Auer earned a 100-ton US Coast Guard’s Master Captain’s license and used this knowledge to create a curriculum for a mandatory sexual assault training program for the entire faculty of the Semester at Sea program (over 200 members across 10 countries).

At the Hofstra University School of Law, she was elected President of Hofstra Law Women and was a Dean’s List student. She clerked for the Hon. Arthur D. Spatt in the Eastern District of New York Federal Court system. Ms. Auer served as editor of Hofstra’s Family Court Review journal, where she published a note on the current state law loopholes pertaining to marital rape, as well as co-authored an article on the legal standards for child custody.

Upon graduation, Ms. Auer passed the New York State Bar and was admitted to practice law in the state and federal courts in New York State. She then began practicing full-time as a litigator, focusing on insurance fraud and federal RICO violations. She was recognized by Hofstra Law School as one of their “Outstanding Women in the Law.” 

Despite a promising legal career, Ms. Auer knew that something was missing in her life. After much prayer and consideration, she quit her job as a litigator and began working full-time at the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection in Garden City, NY. She has since been installed as a lay deacon and continues to seek ways to advance her impact within the church.

Says LSSNY President and CEO Dr. Damyn Kelly, “I wish to welcome Diana to the Board of LSSNY. As a lifelong advocate for the enhancement of women’s rights, her expertise and background will resonate with the goals of many of our programs!”