Dianna Odell – Moscow, Russia

Dianna Odell was born in Provo, Utah but raised in California, Texas, and St. George, Utah.  She attended Brigham Young University as an undergraduate student, majoring in Social Work with a minor in African Studies, and spent a semester in South Africa on a field study. She met and married her husband while at BYU and following graduation they moved to Chicago where Dianna completed a Master’s degree in Social Work and her husband attended Medical School.  Following the birth of their first child, they moved to Chiang Mai, Thailand for a year while her husband worked as an NIH research fellow and Dianna volunteered with a local NGO.  Medical training took their family from Chicago to New Hampshire to Seattle, with a child born in each spot.  Dianna continued to work as a hospital social worker while raising their three children.  Dianna and her family are thrilled with the opportunity to live in Moscow for the summer.