Leslie Patterson-Tyler
By Kharisma McIlwaine
As part of a broader organizational redesign that positions the institution for its next phase of growth, The Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts recently announced three key leadership appointments.
Catherine Marie Charlton has been named vice president of education, Andrea Garcia has been named vice president of communications, and Leslie Patterson-Tyler has been promoted to senior vice president of the newly formed Community Impact and Civic Engagement division.
A former broadcast news executive with more than 30 years of experience, Patterson-Tyler now leads this new division, which oversees partnerships, education, and government relations. With the deep relationships she has cultivated across the Philadelphia community, Patterson-Tyler is uniquely positioned to deepen the organization’s impact and ensure that the arts remain accessible and relevant to all. Patterson-Tyler spoke with the SUN about her journey thus far in a new space and her goals in her new position.
After having an entire career rooted in media and communications, when Patterson-Tyler first learned about the opportunity to lead the new division, her reaction was one of genuine surprise.
“When they first talked to me about it in December, I said, ‘Wait, what?’ because I’ve only done media my entire career since I was in high school,” she said. “I did the morning announcements. I just went back to my 40th high school reunion, and I was remembering people were, like, ‘Oh, my God, can you just do the morning announcement intro like you used to in high school?”
“I’ve always been tied to news, journalism or to public affairs — but through those experiences, you have to make meaningful connections with the community,” Patterson-Tyler said. “As a journalist, you’re deciding what is news for millions of people in some markets. I worked here in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Miami, Florida. I was the actual leader of the news team as the assistant news director, executive producer, and even a newscast producer. When you make the decisions on what is news for all of these people, you have to understand the community, and you have to be in the community. You don’t make those connections by being behind a desk or a computer, and so I’ve always kind of immersed myself into the community. I’ve always tried to get beyond the ‘if it bleeds, it leads’ storylines when I was in news. I just really wanted to find some meaningful stories in the community where people are making a difference.”
Leaving television news did not mean leaving her commitment to community — it simply gave Patterson-Tyler a new way to amplify the work in the community while building relationships across Philadelphia.
“When I transitioned from television news into media relations, it just made sense to be working for difference makers,” she said. “First, it was with Mother Bethel, where my husband was a pastor. I have always been his PR person — he calls me the PR queen, and it’s become like a running joke in our household. He was always doing something, or Mother Bethel was doing something in the community. I would use my media skills to amplify what was happening. That just got me even deeper into the community, because we were interacting with a lot of different organizations. I learned Philadelphia very quickly just by being in that role and working with him in collaboration through his ministry. It allowed me an opportunity to meet people and to do different things simultaneously.”
Before stepping into her new role, Patterson-Tyler was already deeply immersed in the work — advocating for public school funding, fighting to save music and library programs from budget cuts, and learning how to navigate government systems as a parent activist.
“There are parallels to all of those experiences in this new role,” she said. “It’s a new division, and kudos to Ryan Fleur, our president and CEO, for coming up with this new division. It’s called Community Impact and Civic Engagement. The fact that they wanted me to lead it was a very humbling experience. It really took me a moment. I had to read through. It’s not even a job description — it’s like a job charter that they gave me to really understand what the position was about and how it fits into his larger vision for the organization at this time.”
“I was, like, ‘Man, this is me. I’ve got the skill set for all of this.’ So, kudos to the people who see things in you that you don’t always see in yourself. I firmly believe that was the case here. I’m just extremely grateful that they’re allowing me space and an opportunity to do this, and to do it with such an amazing organization.”
Patterson-Tyler has spent her tenure at The Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts dismantling the belief that the arts are reserved for a select few.
“The Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts is a transformative organization,” she said. “It’s a nonprofit organization. People don’t know that — they see that beautiful Kimmel Center building and they say, ‘Oh, that place is expensive — it’s not for me.’ So, I’ve spent the past 11 or 12 years that I’ve been here making people who look like us feel welcome and making sure that they know that there’s a place for them. We saved you a seat here, and you’re welcome here. When they see me, they say, ‘That means they must want me here’ and yes, we do. We want all the beautiful people in Philadelphia, and [in] the Philadelphia region, to experience the arts and the transformative power of the arts. Now, simultaneously, I get to reach children by overseeing education. It’s really just an exciting time to be in this role and to be working with this leadership team to try and bring about change and to align education, community engagement, partnerships, and government and civic relationships as well.”
Patterson-Tyler’s years as a journalist taught her the art of listening — a skill she now considers essential to her new role and the mission of the Community Impact and Civic Engagement division.
“The newly created Community Impact and Civic Engagement Division brings together several functions that share a common purpose, which is strengthening the connection between our organization and the communities we serve — and I mean, to really do this in an authentic way, where it’s not just like we’re asking people for things, but we’re also asking, ‘How can we help you? What are the needs in this community? How can we be a good civic partner? What does your school need? What’s missing from your curriculum? How can we fill a void? What can we do?’ Nonprofit arts organizations are suffering right now. There’s not a big truck of money that’s going around saying, ‘Here’s some money for your arts program.’ So we want to be like the rising tide that helps lift all boats, when and where we can, and be a great collaborator with existing programs and things that help advance our mission to deepen our impact in the community.”
In her new role, Patterson-Tyler is already thinking about how the community can partner more deeply with The Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts, and for her, that partnership begins with listening.
“In this new role, I imagine I’m going to be doing a lot of listening this first year and observing a lot of what’s happening,” she said. “Leaders don’t succeed very well when they come in, and they just want to change things. I really want to be in a position where I can absorb how things are working now. Where are the gaps? Where are some easy wins that won’t break the budget? We’re a nonprofit arts organization, and our budget is pretty much set right now. So, I just really want to use this first year as an opportunity to observe and listen.”
“At the core, the work that we’re doing is about expanding access to the arts, building meaningful partnerships, advocating for the value of arts and culture, and demonstrating that The Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts really [are] more than what happens on our stages,” Patterson-Tyler continued. “We provide free arts education programming to 40,000 students annually — that’s transformative. It’s changing an entire community. Art heals. Where words fail, music and art take place, and it helps people find common ground. People come to our venues every night and they’re sitting next to strangers, but you can’t help but turn to the person next to you, and all of a sudden, you’re like friends with a stranger sitting next to you. It is so powerful. I want to say thank you to our board of directors, our philanthropists, and every donor who sees that need and allows space for students to be able to come for free.”
“I just hope that people continue to see us as not just a place for great performances and events, but as a great partner in trying to bring about change and make an impact here in the city of Philadelphia,” she said. “This is a great place to be, because of The Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts and all of the arts and cultural organizations that are working hard to do some of the same things.”
With Patterson-Tyler at the helm of this new division, The Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts are poised to deepen its civic impact and ensure that the arts remain a vital, accessible force in the city of Philadelphia.
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