Iyana Titus’s journey toward making NYC Parks more inclusive
The NYC Parks & Recreation assistant commissioner of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, arrived in the Big Apple with nothing but a thousand-dollar loan from her grandmother. An internship in Harlem introduced Iyana Titus, then a Detroit-born, Texas-reared law student, to New York City.
"One of the pieces of advice that an attorney gave me was to take the bar [exam] in a place where you see yourself living, and I saw myself in New York City," Titus recalled. "To be sort of like a Southern girl [and] kind of Midwest girl in New York City was extremely exciting to me. The summer internship was a little trial run for me to see if I could actually do it and be okay."
One thing led to another and she ended up starting with the parks department as a deputy equal employment opportunity officer. Back then, she had only a formative understanding of employment law.
Titus later joined the Department of Homeless Services before moving to Amsterdam (the city in the Netherlands, not the avenue) for her master's degree, specifically researching diversity management in the Dutch police force.
But Titus remained tethered to New York City. After managing employee relations for an airline company, she was hired by Borough of Manhattan Community College as chief diversity officer.
She remains an adjunct at the City University of New York (CUNY) school to this day, but NYC Parks ultimately drew her back after the assistant commissioner position opened up. The role is a balancing act of compliance and conflict resolution, in the name of creating a more inclusive workplace.
"We've been starting to do a lot more restorative practices," Titus said. "I still conduct trainings, I still investigate discrimination complaints, but we're also just adding in other programmatic pieces...we're saying we want to go beyond that, and we want people to really try to understand each other."
Outside of work, Titus prides herself as a minister's daughter and credits her religious background in preparing her for the "complexities of humans." Through weddings, funerals, and everything in between, she's seen people at their best and their worst.
She also lends her time as a mediator for the U.S. District Court-Southern District of New York and remains active with the New York Bar Association. Outside of work, Titus enjoys running, traveling, and gardening—she says conflict resolution is hard work, so leaving time for herself is crucial.
"You can't be a person who's in conflict and you're trying to resolve conflict," she said. "It's hard, and because that work is hard, you have to be centered. You have to nourish your soul. You have to have your head on straight."
