Nashville’s new Office of Youth Safety has its first director

Phyllis Hildreth will lead Nashville’s new Office of Youth Safety. Mayor Freddie O’Connell announced the office’s first director last week.

Hildreth previously served as chief of staff at American Baptist College. She has also led the program in conflict management studies at Lipscomb University, served on Nashville’s Community Oversight Board, and worked in the Maryland Department of Juvenile Justice.

In her new job, Hildreth will develop programs to reduce gun violence, and run-ins with the criminal justice system, among young people in Nashville. Her work will also include restorative justice — resolving conflicts between young people so they don’t escalate to violence or incarceration.

Before it was established this year, the Office of Youth Safety was advocated for by a youth coalition led by the Southern Movement Committee. The SMC’s director, Erica Perry, called the new office “a powerful example of what true community co-governance looks like.” 

More: Nashville youth want a solution to gun violence. A new Metro office is looking for one.

Metro Councilmember Delishia Porterfield, an ally of the coalition who helped fund the new office, praised Hildreth’s hiring and hoped her work will serve as an example for other cities.

“This work is about creating a culture of peace and possibility for our young people,” she said. “We’re setting a new national standard.”