NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Mayor Freddie O’Connell announced the hiring of Phyllis Hildreth as director of Nashville’s newly established Office of Youth Safety. Funding for the office was approved in the Fiscal Year 2025 operating budget, and the work the office will undertake is outlined in Mayor O’Connell’s Executive Order 53.
“Phyllis’s passion for supporting our youth goes all the way back to her childhood, where she watched her father support kids in her community as a high school guidance counselor and Sunday school teacher,” Mayor O’Connell said. “Her background includes work in both education and juvenile justice – giving her a unique perspective on how we build a resilient ecosystem to support our youth.”
The Office of Youth Safety will complement the work ongoing in the city to support young Nashvillians. As director, Hildreth will unite the efforts underway in the space of youth safety and programming.
Most recently, Hildreth served as Chief of Staff at American Baptist College and Academic Director of the Institute for Conflict Management at Lipscomb University. She also served on Nashville’s Community Oversight Board and Human Relations Commission, and she worked as Chief Counsel for Administration for the Maryland Office of the Public Defender, as Deputy Secretary for the Maryland Department of Juvenile Justice, and as the first Managing Director of the Baltimore Juvenile Justice Center.
Hildreth has designed and convened community conversations, leadership retreats, and capacity-building courses on a number of topics related to enhancing community engagement, understanding societal imbalances, and solving complex and long-lasting challenges. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in biology from Harvard University, a law degree from the University of Maryland, and a Master of Arts in conflict management from Lipscomb.
Through focus groups and conversations with Metro this year, many Nashville youth advocated for the creation of an Office of Youth Safety and have remained engaged as the framework for the office was created.
The Mayor’s Office partnered with and recognizes the contributions of Metro Council Budget & Finance Chair Delishia Porterfield, Juvenile Court Clerk Lonnell Matthews, Southern Movement Committee representatives, community partners, and Nashville youth in developing the Office of Youth Safety framework.
Executive Order 53 lays out the following responsibilities for the Office and its Director: pilot, assess, and promote programming to prevent conflicts from escalating into gun violence and equip youth with conflict resolution skills, with a focus separate from the criminal justice system; use data and research to inform Metro’s investments in youth violence prevention and restorative programming, and to focus on youth most at risk of violence; gather and assess how Metro departments can continue to build safer communities for youth in ways that reduce the harmful interactions with the criminal justice system; support the development of evidence-based, community-informed anti-violence initiatives within Metro departments as part of a comprehensive effort to promote youth safety and well-being while minimizing the harms that come from interaction with the criminal justice system; and develop relationships with leaders of existing restorative justice initiatives within Metro departments, Metro Nashville Public Schools, and independent agencies, and incubate a restorative justice program as needed.
Hildreth will join the Mayor’s Office in her new position on May 12.
