Family Food Fest Atlanta mourns the loss of our founder and most active and dedicated team member, Diane Larché who succumbed to a battle with pancreatic cancer. Diane was a tour de force in the local Atlanta community where she was widely recognized as one of its most fervent public relations experts.

Originally from Philadelphia, PA, Diane Powell was the youngest child born to Fred and Catherine Powell. Interestingly, the year that Diane Powell-Larché was born, 1958, is the same year that the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre were founded. In that same year, Althea Gibson became the first African-American woman to win the U. S. Open tennis championship and Louis E. Lomax became the first African-American newscaster for a major network station, WNTA-TV in New York.

Diane Powell was a lead cheerleader at Philadelphia’s Olney High School. During her time in high school, she was treasurer of the Student Association, secretary of the English Honor Society, and member of the Hostess Club and Black Student League.

She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and English Writing at the University of Pittsburgh. She also earned a Certificate in Publishing from Howard University.

Early in her career, she worked as a reporter for the Pittsburgh Courier and public relations/communications specialist for the Pittsburgh Human Relations Commission. She was a board member of the Pittsburgh Black Media Foundation, a part of the Black Women’s Political Crusade, and a member of the Gamma Rho chapter of the Gamma Sigma Sigma National Service Sorority. She worked 20 years in management with State Farm Insurance Company.

She met her future husband, Joseph (Joe) Larché and they were married on June 29, 1996.

Diane Larché Video Tribute

Diane Powell-Larché formed Larché Communications, LLC, a full-service communications, public relations, and advertising/marketing firm in 1999. She worked with several small and large businesses and individuals including HBO, Bahamas Consulate Atlanta, Nielsen Media, National Urban League, Urban League of Greater Atlanta, United Negro College Fund, Mayor’s Masked Ball, YWCA of Greater Atlanta, Greater Women’s Business Council, Rolls Royce Motor Cars, Burger King, Ford Motor Company, Gus’ World Famous Fried Chicken, NBAer Jamal Crawford, Jason Terry and the Jason Terry Foundation, R&B singer Jaheim, FootFittr, Stepp Stewart, Ike Reese, the S.T.E.P.S. Events Planning Firm (Jamahl King), actress Krysten Leigh Jones, and many others.

She was founding president of the Greater Atlanta Section of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), vice president of Community Outreach for the Junior League of Atlanta, board member of the League of Women Voters of Atlanta/Fulton County, and member of the Georgia Chapter Lupus Foundation of America.

Diane made invaluable contributions to many organizations such as the United Negro College Fund. In 1998 Dorothy Height appointed the media maven to chair of the NCNW African American Women’s Leadership Roundtable.

Diane Powell-Larché received several awards. She was named among the Atlanta Business League’s (ABL) 100 Women of Influence in the years 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2019. She also received awards from Rolling Out publication, Who’s Who in Black Atlanta, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

She was also a member of NCNW Affiliates Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. Atlanta Alumnae Chapter, the Continental Societies Inc., and a lifelong member of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs Inc.

Diane was a consummate professional. She was someone you could count on and she stood by her word and did what she said she was going to do. Her passing leaves a hole in the heart of the community and she will be greatly missed.