On the rebound from a failed romance with a farmer in Lincolnshire, she accepted an offer[1] in February 1952, from the Crown Agents for the Colonies.

[2] She said that an attractive swimsuit got her the job of Private Secretary to the Governor of the Gold Coast, Sir Charles Arden-Clarke.

[1][3] While working for the Governor, she became a close friend and confidant of Kwame Nkrumah, then bidding for Ghana's independence from the United Kingdom.

[citation needed] Powell returned to Ghana in January 1955, to work for Kwame Nkrumah, a position she held for ten years.

[3] She became close friends with the leading librarian Evelyn Evans, who provided calm during periods of stress.

[2] Other expatriates in Ghana included Dorothy Hodgkin, who visited her husband Thomas and Conor Cruise O'Brien.