The new director of Indy Parks and Recreation says there’s only one part of community engagement that’s simple: “It needs to happen, and it needs to be done well.”
OK, that’s two things, technically, but Phyllis Boyd gets it.
There’s a reason she has become a respected leader in the nonprofit sector. Boyd is smart enough to understand that neighborhoods are nuanced — from the people who live there to the mode of communication that’s most effective — and humble enough to admit there’s also a lot she doesn’t know.
Boyd started at Indy Parks on Nov. 15 after six years as executive director at Groundwork Indy, an organization that employs youth to work on community projects. She recently worked with Indy Parks on community outreach plans for Riverside Adventure Park.
Boyd has spent much of her professional career talking to people, whether it’s about a park project or sustainable design. It’s where she learned one of the tenets of trustworthy community engagement: Don’t overpromise.
“I have, with the best intentions, said, ‘Oh, I can get this or that done,’” she said. “And then for whatever reason, I couldn’t do it.”
What it comes down to for Boyd, who has degrees in biology and landscape architecture, is respect. Even if there is such a thing as communication overload, she thinks that’s better than catching people by surprise.
“You don’t ever want folks to feel like you’re doing things to them,” she said.
Boyd said the parks department wasn’t on her radar until the mayor’s office approached her about the opening. The last director, Linda Broadfoot, left in August and became CEO of Second Helpings.
It didn’t take long for Boyd to see why the move would make sense for her. There’s the experience in community engagement, architecture, planning, biology and her passion for parks.
“It’s just another way of putting what I know and what I love in service to the community on a larger scale,” she said.
City leaders celebrate 100th anniversary of Frederick Douglass Park
Mayor Joe Hogsett announced Boyd as the new director in early November.
“With a number of major park improvements and facility upgrades slated for the coming years, I look forward to working with Phyllis to enhance public greenspaces throughout Indianapolis and tighten the bonds between Parks and our neighborhoods,” he said in a statement.
Indy Parks and Recreation consists of 212 parks, 11,258 acres of greenspace, 130 playgrounds and 153 miles of trails. The department will spend $45 million in upgrades over the coming years on projects including a new family center at Frederick Douglass Park and another $11 million toward Riverside Park’s master plan.
The city also appropriated $16.5 million in federal pandemic relief funds to upgrade nearly 30 parks.
Boyd said she’s still in “absorption mode” just a few weeks into the job, but her goals include adding more sources of dedicated funding for operations and maintenance, as well as finding a balance between planning for the present and future.
Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853 or tylerf@indyrecorder.com. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.
