One of the largest urban parks in the country, City Park is one of the city’s brightest jewels. Now halfway through the planning process for the next few decades, City Park Conservancy President and CEO Rebecca Dietz joins Bobbie Hill, principal of Concordia, to discuss how they’re engaging public opinion in new ways in the first part of this two-part conversation.
about
Rebecca Dietz
Rebecca Dietz, president and CEO of City Park Conservancy (CPC), has played an impactful leadership role in New Orleans for over 20 years. As the former vice president and chief administrative officer for CPC, she has been instrumental in CPC’s growth and success over the last several years, overseeing a $30 million annual budget. Her expertise and significant leadership in New Orleans spans nonprofit management, human resources, park operations, fundraising, providing legal counsel and government relations. Notably, she facilitated City Park’s transition from a state agency to a 501c(3) organization, overseeing the seamless transition of over 300 employees. Additionally, Dietz has been instrumental in strategic planning efforts, emphasizing philanthropy and diverse funding sources for CPC.
Before joining City Park, Dietz served as executive vice president for public affairs and general counsel at Audubon Nature Institute (2018-2022). At Audubon, she championed the 2019 parks millage, successfully advocated for federal Covid-19 recovery funding, and redefined Audubon’s mission. Her commitment to community engagement led to initiatives like the Audubon Community Connect Program, providing free admission to Orleans Parish residents.
Dietz’s dedication to public service extends to her tenure as deputy city attorney (2012) and later as New Orleans city attorney (2015). In these roles, she managed legal matters, negotiated contracts, and provided executive guidance to former Mayor Mitch Landrieu. She also served as general counsel for the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Dietz’s legal career began at the law firm King, Krebs and Jurgens, where she specialized in oil and gas and environmental litigation. She holds a specialization certificate in environmental law from Tulane Law School (2002).
Dietz lives in Uptown New Orleans with her husband, Greg. She enjoys spending time with her two children, playing tennis, gardening and watching baseball.
Bobbie Hill
Through her planning and design efforts with Concordia, Bobbie Hill works with communities to help them realize their potential through consensus building and collaboration. She is committed to public scholarship by helping communities become healthy civil societies that are interconnected – not homogeneous – but integrated.
To expand on her knowledge of community planning, Hill has participated in a Women’s Leadership Journey in South Africa led by internationally known author and leadership development consultant, Margaret Wheatley. Wheatley writes about radically new practices and ideas for organizing in chaotic times. Hill’s learning and experiences on this trip and subsequent learning journeys have greatly informed Concordia’s ongoing participatory planning and design work in New Orleans post Katrina and other urban and rural communities.
Hill’s project experience includes managing community engagement for the Unified New Orleans Planning project during which she provided coordination and oversight services for the city-wide New Orleans recovery plan. Additionally, she has led process design for the LASAFE National Disaster Resilience Competition grant awarded to the State of Louisiana by HUD.
Other project work has taken her to the Waianae Coast of Ohau, Hawaii; inner city neighborhoods of Philadelphia; the school district of Camden, New Jersey; Los Angeles and Oakland, California; and rural Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin; among many other places. While this work provided engagement, leadership, capacity building and planning for these cities, our work there has taught us so much about the richness and resiliency of our people and our communities.
Hill is the oldest of seven. She was born in New Orleans and grew up in Central Louisiana. After graduation from Tulane University, she was part of a group that bought land in West Virginia in the mid ’70’s. As present, 15 family households collectively own more than 900 acres of beautiful woodsy land in the hills of West Virginia. This is where her roots of community building are planted and continue to be at the core of her passion and commitment to making the world a better place.
