Diane spent 40 years in the private sector as a business executive before being elected to the Newport Beach City Council in 2014, where she served two terms as Mayor. Her leadership helped deliver budget surpluses, pay down pension liabilities, improve public safety, and complete infrastructure projects on time and within budget and greater cooperation between residents, businesses, and government to resolve community problems. A regional leader, Diane is past President of the Association of California Cities-Orange County. She served (2019-2022) on the regional council of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) and as a board member of Orange County Council of Governments (OCCOG).

Diane has been an active member on several philanthropic community-based boards of directors for nearly four decades, including United Way Orange County, YMCA, public television, USC Board of Councilors and Alumni Association, educational institutions, child service agencies, and health-related organizations.

She earned her Bachelor of Arts with honors in political science from the University of Southern California.

Diane has been married for 47 years to Pat Dixon, a career prosecutor who currently serves as Special Counsel to the Orange County District Attorney. Their daughter Colleen (a former prosecutor) and her husband, Graves, are the parents of Diane and Pat’s three grandsons.