Diane Cruz-Burke
Chief Operations Officer, Legal | Eli Lilly and Company
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
While she was growing up in Knox, Indiana, Diane Cruz-Burke’s father operated a small business, and like any small business owner, he often had to deal with lawyers and accountants. Taking that into account, he encouraged his daughter to pursue a career in law.
“He said he needed a lawyer he could trust,” Cruz-Burke says. “He also suggested I have a solid back-up plan, perhaps something in business.”
She did both, earning a degree in accounting from Indiana University and a JD from Harvard Law School. Since then, her parents’ work ethic has inspired her to have a prosperous career.
“My parents worked really hard, but we never lacked for things,” she says. “I saw how hard they had to work to achieve what they had and saw how that was different from even extended family. That motivated me. I knew I had more opportunity than they had; they came from very humble beginnings.”
Upon earning her JD, Cruz-Burke began her legal career in Indianapolis at Barnes & Thornburg. Three years later, she accepted an in-house counsel position at global pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company, also based in Indianapolis. Since joining Lilly in 1994, she’s moved up to become the chief operations officer for the legal department, and she’s become an integral part of the Indianapolis community and a champion of diversity at Lilly.
In addition to supporting several community-based nonprofits, she has served as president of the Organization of Latinos at Lilly, and she received Lilly’s inaugural Diversity and Inclusion Community Champion Award in 2013.
If You Help One Child
One of Diane Cruz-Burke’s primary focuses in her philanthropy work is youth education and coaching. Currently, she says that one of her biggest commitments in that realm is serving on the board of the Providence Cristo Rey High School, a college-preparatory school in Indianapolis that serves financially underprivileged students.
“I love working with that population of at-risk students and families,” she says. “I deeply believe that if you help one child, you’ve helped a family and a community.”
Outside of her involvement with Providence Cristo Rey High School, Cruz-Burke says she has a lot of relationships with family members, kids of friends, and young people in the community in which she serves as a mentor, advisor, and life coach.
“I like to help people make connections with others and expose them to opportunities and ideas that will help them formulate or move closer to achieving their dreams,” she says.
