Diana Aldridge

Diana Aldridge, age 62, longtime resident of her hometown Boulder as well as Washington DC and New York City, passed away on December 13. A graduate of the University of Colorado, Diana put her well-known and highly respected communications talents to work on a range of major public policy issues and causes, as well as providing communications advice to prominent national figures over a span of decades. Early in her career Diana worked in the Washington office of Colorado Senator Floyd Haskell. She served in President Clinton's White House in 1992 as the Director of Communications for the Office of National Service, responsible for creating and launching AmeriCorps, viewed as the legacy of the Peace Corps and Vista Programs. She was a Senior Vice President in the public affairs practice of Gray and Company as well as Hill and Knowlton Public Affairs Worldwide under Frank Mankiewicz, the former press secretary to Senator Robert Kennedy. She served as the Communications Director for the 20th Anniversary of Earth Day in 1990 and staffed the Presidential campaign of Senator Edward Kennedy and the California Presidential campaigns of Michael Dukakis and Bill Clinton. In recent years Diana was a freelance consultant to a wide range of media companies and organizations, including ABC News and HarperCollins, where she helped with the acquisition of books including Harmony by the Prince of Wales. She was one of the early supporters and activists in Washington behind The Woman's Campaign Fund, one of the first organizations dedicated to fundraising for women candidates. Diana was known for her wit, which could command a room, her master storytelling, and her unwavering commitment to the causes and people she believed in. She will be remembered with love and a smile by her many friends. She is survived by her sister Janis and her nephews Ridge and Cleaver Sower - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dailycamera/obituary.aspx?pid=168816402#sthash.I1JpCUrk.dpuf