Diane Aretz

Hi, I'm Diane...

Founder of Teen Life Skills

About Diane

Diane is a celebrated educator, researcher, and academic coach with almost two decades of experience supporting young people. 

Her work as an executive functioning coach is evidence-based, and is rooted in her belief in young people and their unique potential as individuals.

She has worked as an educator of children from preschool through college, and has worked for almost a decade as a teacher educator at the University of Michigan, where she was nominated twice for a Golden Apple Teaching Award. She has a deep understanding of school systems, and the executive functioning challenges that children and teenagers experience in schools. 

As a teenager, Diane was bright, but struggled academically. Like many neurodivergent young people, she was described as “lazy” or “apathetic.” In reality, she wanted to do well–but she struggled with things like organization, time management, and task initiation.  Diane is also a parent to two wonderful teenagers, which allows her to approach her work with parents of teens with great empathy and understanding.

Helping young people develop the strong executive functioning skills they need to thrive in school and in life is the work of a village, and Diane’s work supports the whole village: she coaches parents as well as teenagers, and she has provided workshops for student groups, parent groups, teachers and administrators, and therapists. She has also created content and countless free resources for teenagers, teachers, and parents alike. 

Diane is the founder and director of Teen Life Skills, the company that she created to help struggling teenagers (and the people that support them) to build strong executive functioning and other important life skills. She has helped hundreds of students all over the U.S. and Canada to develop the skills they need to thrive in school and in life. Her work transforms lives. 

In addition to her work helping young people to develop strong academic and life skills, Diane co-operates an agroforestry operation with her partner, Kirt. They grow edible perennial plants, raise animals, and are developing nature-based, screen-free educational programs for children, teenagers, and adults. 

She is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where she earned a Master’s degree in Secondary Education and undergraduate degrees in Spanish Language and Literature, and Asian Studies/Mandarin Chinese. Her research interests are in pedagogical best practices for multilingual learners, and learners with learning differences; nature-based and play-based education; and alternatives to education. 

Diane is widely recognized for being a warm, generous, thoughtful, and highly effective coach who believes in each of her students, and who cares deeply about their success.