Journalism and Drake Ink

Diana began her career as a business journalist months after graduating from Skidmore College and completing a magazine internship. Seasoned journalist George Taber of Time magazine had recently launched NJBIZ, a statewide business publication. Diana joined as a researcher, and in the next decade moved up to reporter, staff writer and managing editor, learning from mentors each step of the way. The skills from those start-up years and as a freelancer running Drake Ink — where she has also published many articles unrelated to business — inform her professional writing career. 

Business Education Content

During her more than 15 years producing content for the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Diana used her journalism skills to brainstorm, report, write and publish articles featuring insights from Wharton faculty and industry leaders. The goal of this content: to educate high school students about the broad scope of business. As Managing Editor, Diana built an annual editorial calendar and produced Wharton-informed articles on topics like marketing, the macroeconomy, the environment and entrepreneurship. She wrote and published some 40 stories a year. 

A Boy's Dream of Great Things Leads to a Publishing House A New York Times profile of Kassahun Checole, founder of Africa World Press, a publishing company with the mission to publish books on the history, culture and politics of Africa and the A

A Boy's Dream of Great Things Leads to a Publishing House
A New York Times profile of Kassahun Checole, founder of Africa World Press, a publishing company with the mission to publish books on the history, culture and politics of Africa and the African diaspora. "Traditional black publishers like Third World Press in Boston were very focused. My goal was more ambitious and perhaps foolish. I wanted to reach the widest spectrum of people I could." Read More

Inside the Business Life of September 11 Hero Todd Beamer In this award-winning article, Todd Beamer's wife and colleagues share a different side of the freedom fighter who lost his life when United Flight 93 crashed on September 11, 2001. “Todd

Inside the Business Life of September 11 Hero Todd Beamer
In this award-winning article, Todd Beamer's wife and colleagues share a different side of the freedom fighter who lost his life when United Flight 93 crashed on September 11, 2001. “Todd wasn’t always perfect but he was always seeking to improve,” says Lisa Beamer. “Making sure his goals were right and keeping them in focus allowed him to make wise decisions. This is his legacy that I will pass on to David, Drew and our baby.” Read More

The Launch of a Mission-driven Fashion Brand The Kinnamon brand caters to people with Type 1 Diabetes. Designer Johnathan Hayden, creative director of a namesake brand of luxury wear based in New York City, is watching the brand entrance with inte

The Launch of a Mission-driven Fashion Brand
The Kinnamon brand caters to people with Type 1 Diabetes. Designer Johnathan Hayden, creative director of a namesake brand of luxury wear based in New York City, is watching the brand entrance with interest. "Those kinds of details [T1D focus] do help garments sell to the customer,” notes Hayden. “But the reality is that the buyers think completely differently about this conversation around clothes. They’re thinking: how do they sell it? And, of course, how much money can they make off of it?” Read More

The Hot Prospects at Cairns & Brother One of the oldest makers of firefighters' equipment in the world, based in Clifton, N.J., discusses the Cairns Iris, a small computer-chip driven, black-and-white television screen mounted to the top of a fir

The Hot Prospects at Cairns & Brother
One of the oldest makers of firefighters' equipment in the world, based in Clifton, N.J., discusses the Cairns Iris, a small computer-chip driven, black-and-white television screen mounted to the top of a firefighter's helmet. "Nothing like the Cairns Iris has come down the pike. It gives you an incredible image," said Bill Manning, editor of Fire Engineering magazine. Read More

A University of Pennsylvania Grad Takes Us Inside the Blue Economy Penn and Wharton alumni are rich sources of industry insight and fascinating business trends. During Climate Week at Penn, Wharton Global Youth's Managing Editor Diana Drake spoke

A University of Pennsylvania Grad Takes Us Inside the Blue Economy
Penn and Wharton alumni are rich sources of industry insight and fascinating business trends. During Climate Week at Penn, Wharton Global Youth's Managing Editor Diana Drake spoke with The Nature Conservancy's Mark Zimring on Pacific Island Tuna, a joint venture company that was formed to supply sustainable canned tuna to Walmart stores across the U.S. Read More

Business Ethics Requires You to Become a Careful Thinker The ethics of technology – from product development and algorithmic discrimination to surveillance and privacy – is ripe for discussion and debate in business-ethics circles these days. And

Business Ethics Requires You to Become a Careful Thinker
The ethics of technology – from product development and algorithmic discrimination to surveillance and privacy – is ripe for discussion and debate in business-ethics circles these days. And it is just one of many topics that Wharton School professors are considering as they explore doing the right thing in the context of business. Here, Brian Berkey and Amy Sepinwall help us better understand business ethics. Read More

Thinking Like an Entrepreneur In a Time of Crisis Crisis often leaves us with a heap of uncertainty, much like we experienced during the pandemic. This reality resembles that of an entrepreneur. "Entrepreneurs tackle adversity though creative thi

Thinking Like an Entrepreneur In a Time of Crisis
Crisis often leaves us with a heap of uncertainty, much like we experienced during the pandemic. This reality resembles that of an entrepreneur. "Entrepreneurs tackle adversity though creative thinking and experimentation… they actively look for solutions and approach problems through a lens of hope and change," said Wharton professor, Tyler Wry. Crises often give way to great innovation. Read More

Does Business Have a Responsibility to Help Save the Planet? Two Wharton School professors co-authored The Climate Imperative for Business that considers: What do we have to do to change the world toward a sustainable path on the climate? "Busine

Does Business Have a Responsibility to Help Save the Planet?
Two Wharton School professors co-authored The Climate Imperative for Business that considers: What do we have to do to change the world toward a sustainable path on the climate? "Business has an ethical responsibility just like consumers, citizens, governments and everyone else in society to help contribute to solving the climate problem," said Eric Orts. Read More

The Power of Strategic Thinking: Intel from an M&A Professional A look inside the life of an M&A professional — specifically a Wharton MBA who manages corporate strategy and development at Amazon. "One of the biggest skill sets I’m developing rig

The Power of Strategic Thinking: Intel from an M&A Professional
A look inside the life of an M&A professional — specifically a Wharton MBA who manages corporate strategy and development at Amazon. "One of the biggest skill sets I’m developing right now is to zoom in and zoom out. You zoom in and think about what is good for the niche part of the business, and then you zoom out to think about how that is going to affect the entirety of the organization." Read More