Diane Paddison, seemingly, has always been purposeful in her life. She got interested in a career in business from running a cash register and managing peach-pit crews at her family’s Oregon fruit farm. After completing her undergraduate degree at Oregon State University, she continued on to Harvard Business School, before pursuing a career in the real estate industry that advanced her to the executive suites of Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies, such as Trammell Crow (now CB Richard Ellis), CBG, and ProLogis. All the while, like many of us, balancing her career with being a wife and mother to four children.
When Diane set ambitious goals early in her career, she enlisted mentors to guide her in the male-dominated commercial real estate industry. That mentoring and the value she received in mentoring became the seed for what she refers to as Chapter 4 of her life. Diane’s passion to influence and mentor women led her to a higher calling in establishing a national nonprofit, 4word, to connect, lead and support young professional Christian women to fulfill their God-given potential. 4word’s goal is to help women working outside the home see their work as the place God called them to be, and to make their relationship a priority, and to see their faith as their foundation.
4word accomplishes their mission by connecting women to others who are walking the same journey. Relationships are fostered locally in 4word Local Groups across the U.S., in active online communities with a global reach, and through the 4word Mentor Program, a proprietary curriculum connecting one mentee to one mentor. Seven years later, 4word has over 2 million unique visitors via partner and its digital platforms, 250+ volunteers, and 900+ mentor pairs.
The Book: “Work, Love, Pray”
One purposeful woman making a difference in other women’s lives. Diane is a prime example of the PRiME Woman today.
