Listening and learning: Newfields’ new CEO is committed to moving the institution forward

Le Monte Booker said he is ready to listen to the community.

After a six-month nationwide search, Newfields welcomed Booker as its president and CEO. Booker, the former chief financial officer of the Field Museum in Chicago, took on the role in October, nearly a year after the sudden and unexplained departure of Dr. Colette Pierce Burnette.

The Indianapolis Recorder sat down with Booker last on Dec. 19, 2024, to learn about his vision for Newfields’ future.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

I know you’ve only been in this role for a short period of time, but what are your first steps?

Booker: Well, the first step is to really immerse myself in learning about Newfields, its wonderful history, where we are today, and to think about what our future might look like. It has really been to meet closely with all of our staff, having several different department meetings and learning more about what this institution needs in order to function and to work extremely well. Also early in my days, is to meet with as many people as I can outside of the institution.

But of course, the way I learn is from the inside out, so it’s going to start first and foremost with what’s happening internally and just what is necessary to make this institution exactly what it is.

What is your goal for Newfields?

Booker: My goal was for Newfields (is) to grow its impact, and impact can mean many, many things — the way you impact the community, the way you assist the community, and what its goals are. Impact is inviting more diverse audiences to Newfields. We want to make sure that we’re accessible to people of all backgrounds. We want to make sure that this is an institution that inspires people, especially young people that may be coming to see us for the very first time. So, we want to have an impact on people’s lives and art and nature.

Were you aware of the controversy surrounding Newfields when you took this job? How did that make you feel?

Booker: I was aware of the controversies. I conducted a great deal of research independently. I came to visit the museum before I started as it started to look like this is going to be a possibility. What I will say is I believe that Newfields is very much on the right path, that Newfields has made a lot of progress in delivering on its promise and Newfields remains highly committed to diversity, equity, inclusion and access. This is an institution that holds its arms (open) to people of all backgrounds.

What made you decide to take the job and give Newfields a chance despite its history? What do you hope to accomplish?

Booker: Well, this institution in my opinion, it’s got a very important place in the community. We are really providing amazing experiences to visitors and all members of our community. I believe that this institution is one of many reasons why Indianapolis is such an amazing place to live, work and play.

My role as president and the CEO is to look for ways to grow our impact, to make a positive impression on the city, to find ways to contribute to the city’s success in all of Central Indiana. We have many, many opportunities before us to get better — and we will — but I’m looking forward to connecting more with local leaders of different institutions.

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Due to these controversies, Newfields’ relationship with the community — particularly the Black community — has suffered. What are your plans to remedy this?

Booker: The first thing is to begin having those meetings with different organizations, their leadership, their employees. You first have to embark on the process of learning and understanding. Until you’ve done that and you’ve done it well — this process of learning — it is only at that point that you can set the direction; that you can be sure that the way you’re going to engage with the community in many different ways through partnership with organizations is going to be the right way.

What feedback have you received from the community?

Booker: I think that my feedback from the community has been very positive. The community loves this institution. I think that the community believes that this is an important place. So, I’ve been heartened by that — that the vast, vast majority of the people I meet are positive about Newfields and they want to see us do well, and they look through us to partner with and help the community grow and do and become as successful as it can be.

Your predecessor made a dedicated effort to connect with, support and provide a platform for local and minority artists. Is that something you plan on continuing?

Booker: I certainly do plan to reach out to local artists, local organizations, (and) look for ways to broaden our reach. But again, that process has to begin with a tour of listening and understanding. In my opinion, you cannot fully understand how you’re going to partner with the community until you’ve gone through the process of learning, and that is a step that I will be taking.

Many of our community members have raised concern over ticket prices. In your previous job at the Field Museum, you raised the ticket prices. Is that something you plan to do at Newfields as well?

Booker: It’s early in my time here. I think that I haven’t thoroughly looked into our ticket pricing, where it stands and what direction it should go in. What I will say is Newfields will always be committed to accessibility, finding ways to assure that people of different backgrounds can have access to this museum will always be committed to that.

You can imagine that this is a large, complicated institution, and it certainly does need resources in order to operate, to continue to deliver an excellent experience to visitors and the community.

DEI has also been a concern for many. Is Newfields going to continue its organization-wide DEI training as part of the 2021 action plan and what will that look like?

Booker: I think that Newfields continues to be very, very committed to DEI, and I think that Newfields has made progress and will continue to make progress. Our board is more diverse. Our executive leadership team — you can look on our website — it’s pretty diverse. We have a total of 10 or more tracks for DEI training that we have here, and so it is something that’s very prominent. We have what’s called Newfields University, which is a program that staff can engage to receive training. We are focusing on having diversity in every area of the organization, including how we work with our various partners, from an economic standpoint and beyond.

In your visits leading up to taking this job, what did you like about Newfields?

Booker: I was struck by the unbelievable beauty of the institution, its garden, its park, the museum itself. I was also blown away with the idea of merging art and nature, because, in my opinion, it seemed that at times, they’re one in the same.

But I was equally amazed by the devotion or commitment of the staff. They did not know that I was a person who was on the way to becoming their president and CEO, and the way I was treated by the staff as a visitor was absolutely amazing. I just enjoyed everything from the entirety of the Newfields experience as a visitor.

As far as what I’m hoping for, as I mentioned earlier, it is again to increase our impact — from the standpoint of how we build stronger, more collaborative partnerships with the community to growing the number of visitors who choose us to growing volunteerism here, I want to see our impact as an institution grow.

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Just to clarify, you’ve said Newfields is on the right track, and you want to grow that impact. What do you mean by that?

Booker: There’s always going to be better ways that you can connect and partner with community-based organizations to solve problems. So impact, to me, is, how do you partner with various organizations to help solve challenges? To make the community in which we live better? Because that is good for everybody. It is Newfields’ interest that we have a strong community around us. It’s in our interest, and so we’re very interested in that.

Was there anything else that you wanted to touch on?

Booker: I hope that everyone can come out and visit us very, very soon. We’ve got some wonderful things that are happening here right now, from “Winterlights.” It’s a wonderful festival, I hope people can come out and visit us. And then our new exhibition, “Future Now.” Such a wonderful exhibition. We’ve had over a thousand kids visit us this past Friday and Saturday, and we were able to distribute footwear to them.

Contact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on X @chloe_mcgowanxx.