Senior Staff

Diane Villa was named Acting Deputy Director and Chief Communications Officer at the North Carolina Zoo in 2024. Her duties include leading a dedicated and passionate staff covering marketing, public relations, social media, website, events, graphics, zoo rangers, and guest services. Her team brands and promote the North Carolina Zoo, and creates memorable guest experiences, focusing on inspiring people to make a difference for wildlife and wild places. Before this position, Diane was the Zoo’s Director of Communications and Marketing from 2017 to 2024, the Zoo's Curator of Design from 2014 to 2017 and the Zoo's Art Director from 1994 to 2014.

Diane is a native of North Carolina and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from East Carolina University. She is involved in the local community, serving on the Randolph County Tourism Development Authority Board of Directors. 

At the North Carolina Zoo, Diane is on the senior staff team, serves on the editorial board for the Alive magazine (the member magazine for the N.C. Zoo Society), and works with the Zoo’s social media and Park interpretation teams. Diane also works on a variety of attraction and habitat planning teams.