Diane Bock was raised in Los Angeles, twelve miles from the neighborhood where the riots broke out. She graduated from University of Southern California with a degree in business and then lived for two years in London, working for Carnation Co., after which she returned to Los Angeles, working at jobs in advertising and publishing. In 1986, she married Larry Bock and they moved to the San Diego area three years later. The Bocks have two daughters. Diane retired in 1992 in order to devote herself to family, but has been spending a good deal of time founding and running Community Cousins. Cousins play a special part in the lives of her children and she’s happy to have added many, many Community Cousins to their sphere.

In 1999, Community Cousins was selected by Vice President Al Gore as one of ten outstanding grassroots efforts nationwide. Oprah published a story about the group in her magazine in July 2000. NBC produced a lengthy news feature about the program that went on to win a Peabody Award.