Diane started as an in-home child care provider in 1996, noticing the lack of high quality options in her community. When her own children entered school, she became involved in the Parent Advisory Council, Parent Teacher Organization, and was elected as a school board member. As a school board member, she joined the Oregon School Board Association Leadership Institute, achieving the Gold Status after two years. From 2005 until 2012, Diane was the NW Area Manager for the SMART program, recruiting volunteers, working with school superintendents to build programs, organized many fundraising events and wrote several successful grants for some of the eight counties under her oversight. In 2012, she became the Executive Director of what was known as Cedar Creek Child Care Center, a 501c3 child care, growing their programs from just ten students enrolled to over seventy, adding Head Start and Preschool Promise classrooms. Her work included building a bridge to the local school district, focusing on Kindergarten Readiness and Parent Engagement. In 2019, she collaborated with the school superintendent to create an early learning center within the district, ensuring the early learning staff had access to benefits and PERS. During this time, she was recruited to the Social Services position with the NWRESD board of directors.

Diane has been with the Lincoln County School District since February of 2023, as the Early Learning Coordinator.