In the latest installment of From the Lobby‘s Meet the Team series, host Joanna Pasceri sits down with Diane Ong, Chief of Staff at O’Donnell & Associates, for a behind-the-scenes look at the operator who keeps the firm’s New York City practice moving. Ong traces a path that runs from canvassing with her father in North Carolina, to organizing for her county Democratic Party, to a congressional internship focused on women’s health and humanitarian aid, to peace-and-conflict work in London with Solutions Not Sides — and most recently, to a six-week sprint as operations manager on the 2024 Harris-Walz presidential campaign, where she coordinated the buses moving New York volunteers into Pennsylvania for GOTV. Along the way, she explains how organizing, policy research, and campaign logistics shape how she leads at the firm — and why Singin’ in the Rain is still her comfort movie.
Joanna Pasceri
Hi, everyone, and welcome back to From the Lobby with Jack O’Donnell. This week we’re continuing our Meet the Team series where we introduce you to the people behind O’Donnell and Associates — the advisors, strategists and problem solvers who help guide our work every day. Today we’re sitting down with someone who truly keeps the wheels turning here at the firm, Diane Ong, our Chief of Staff. Diane manages a wide-ranging client portfolio across New York City, oversees firm operations, and brings national campaign experience to the table, most recently serving as operations manager on the 2024 Harris-Walz presidential campaign. Diane, we’re so glad to have you with us. Welcome to the lobby.
Diane Ong
Thank you. So happy to be joining you.
Joanna Pasceri
Tell us about yourself. What first pulled you into public service, and when did you realize this was the work you wanted to do?
Diane Ong
I would say I grew up with public service, or I guess just kind of being involved in politics, as it was a big part of my family. My dad took me canvassing growing up. He volunteered me to be a poll greeter at every election, even when I couldn’t vote. So I think it was something that was really ingrained into me. And then when I got to college, I was really looking for a more fulfilling sort of extracurricular. Politics and campaigns have always been something that have been really interesting to me and something I’ve always been very passionate about. So I reached out to my county’s local Democratic Party just to see if they had any need for volunteers. And actually, the first coffee I had with our then vice chair, he was like, “I have a really ambitious organizing plan and I would love to bring you on as a full-time organizer.” So I did that for three years and it taught me so much. It was also during the 2020 presidential election, which was during COVID, so a little unique, but I felt like I got a taste of a bigger national campaign at the time, what it meant to do local advocacy and get to know more local issues. And this was in North Carolina, where it’s a very interesting political landscape, definitely different than New York. So I felt like I really got to learn a lot of different things doing that.
Joanna Pasceri
Well, you certainly channeled that passion in so many ways — organizer, policy researcher, campaign operator, and now Chief of Staff here for O’Donnell and Associates. How do those different experiences shape the way you approach your role here?
Diane Ong
For clients, those things all come into play, whether it’s having to learn new issues on the fly, coalition building, relationship building, and strategies. We do so many different things for clients, whether it’s learning about a new legislative issue or having to do a bit more of like a grassroots, bringing folks together thing. It really reminds me of doing organizing, or when I had a brief stint being a congressional intern way back in the day. For the Chief of Staff role, a lot of my job is just learning how to juggle different moving parts, which is something I definitely learned in the campaign world as well, and as an organizer. We have people with competing agendas. We have a lot of different campaigns going at the same time with clients, and trying to figure out how to make sure we’re moving everything forward at the same time. That has taught me a lot about what it means to work within a team structure in a way that’s functional and making sure everybody’s moving forward together.
Joanna Pasceri
Most recently, you were operations manager on a really high-profile campaign, the Harris-Walz presidential campaign. What was that like, and what did you take away from that experience?
Diane Ong
I will say simultaneously probably one of the most stressful things I’ve ever done and also the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. Really, really intense, of course, but it was such a great experience. I got to work alongside so many amazing people, some of whom are now in New York. What I was doing on the campaign was overseeing operations. If anyone’s listening and they volunteered in New York for the Harris campaign and they got on a bus and went into another state — most likely Pennsylvania — I was the one who organized all of the buses around the state. So all of the logistics of it, which was just total insanity. But I’m really proud of the work we did. What I really took away from that experience was, one, how amazing it was to work — not even just the small team I worked on, but working on the campaign as a whole. How great it is to work with one goal in mind. We were all so simultaneously focused on achieving one thing. That was such a great energy to have. It also taught me so much about different working styles, what it’s like to have to rely on different members of your team because everything had to be executed in such a certain way to make sure nothing went wrong. And, trust me, definitely some things went wrong. It really taught me how, even when you feel like things are going wrong or everything is so chaotic, to move through that with a sense of calmness and keep everyone together and grounded — instead of feeling like you’re drinking from a fire hose and getting so overwhelmed. It really sort of honed my different problem-solving capabilities.
Joanna Pasceri
I would say that most people don’t understand just how chaotic campaigns are, even at the local level. I guess I want to ask you, the kind of intense pace you thrive on — to be in at something as large as a presidential campaign?
Diane Ong
I really loved it. I will say I came on towards the end, so it was like a much briefer stint — about six weeks — as we moved into GOTV. That’s when we really, really ramped up. We would work seven days a week just around the clock. And I loved it. I was probably able to do it because I could see an end in sight. Some people probably like that about a campaign, some people don’t, where you have a pretty solid end date. But I loved the energy of it. It was so exciting.
Joanna Pasceri
Earlier in your career, you worked for a congressman focusing on women’s health and humanitarian aid, and later studied international affairs through your work with the London-based organization called Solutions Not Sides. Tell us about this.
Diane Ong
That was a really interesting experience. The congressman that I worked for was a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the chair of the Subcommittee on Central Asia. I had never really been exposed to anything foreign affairs related at the point. I ended up loving it so much. It was actually at the time when the U.S. decided to pull out of Afghanistan — I had overlap there. So that was something our office was really focused tightly on at the time. I felt like I just got a really great front-row seat to how Congress interacts on foreign affairs matters. Because of that, I actually ended up changing my minor to add a conflict management — like a peace, war and defense minor — which I loved. After I graduated college, I went to work at Solutions Not Sides in London, which was a group that taught conflict management practices for discussions around Israel, Palestine. Local governments or schools would hire them to come in and lead discussions and teach them how to talk about the issue without resorting to antisemitism or Islamophobia, and the best practices for how to have discussions about intense conflicts. They had a really great mission. Especially in this day and age, we could all benefit from learning how to navigate conflict management, especially when it comes to our own personal discussions. One of the things that I really took away from working with them was, I got to work with them developing a lot of their own programming. They were doing a Model UN thing for youth leadership — they were really big on youth leadership, which was something else I loved about them. I felt like I got to learn a lot about what nonprofit programming looked like and the operations of a nonprofit, especially one with a little bit more of an advocacy side.
Joanna Pasceri
That’s fascinating, really, and so important to educate on such weighty issues like this.
Diane Ong
Yeah, absolutely. It gives everybody the right tools to be able to discuss things in a way without escalating something, which I think we could all use those tools, probably.
Joanna Pasceri
A little bit on the lighter side — here you are in our New York City office. When you’re not immersed in policy or managing the day-to-day here at O’Donnell, what helps you recharge?
Diane Ong
I love to read. I’m actually trying to be very good about not being on my phone as much, which if anyone who is listening is in our world, they know it’s very, very hard to do that. I actually needlepoint, so I’ve been trying to work on my needlepointing. I read a lot. I love living in New York City, so I love going to check out new restaurants, anything new that’s opening in my neighborhood, or exploring other neighborhoods. I’m a very social person, so I love to hang out with my friends. I also love movies. I’m actually in a movie club where we watch movies and discuss them. So I’m working on trying to up my Letterboxd game, for anyone who’s listening who knows what that is.
Joanna Pasceri
What’s your favorite movie of all time?
Diane Ong
My favorite movie of all time — I wouldn’t say it because it’s the best movie, but I love Singin’ in the Rain. I watched it when I was younger and just fell in love with it. It’s still such a comforting movie for me to watch.
Joanna Pasceri
Amazing. It is. It’s so fun. And if you haven’t seen it lately, go look it up again. I try to find those old movies.
Diane Ong
That Technicolor — they just do not make movies like that anymore. So that’s really amazing to see.
Joanna Pasceri
Very cool. Well, Diane, thanks so much for joining us in the lobby and sharing your story.
Diane Ong
Thank you so much. Great to talk with you.
Joanna Pasceri
At O’Donnell and Associates, it’s our people who make the difference, and Diane’s experience is a great example of the insight and dedication behind our work. Be sure to check out our Meet the Team series wherever you listen to podcasts. And for the latest in politics and policies shaping New York and Washington, D.C., don’t miss Jack’s Monday Morning Memo, delivered straight to your inbox. No paywall, sign up is easy — just head to our website at odonnellsolutions.com. Thanks for listening, everyone. We’ll be back soon From the Lobby with Jack O’Donnell.
