Staff Spotlight: Taylor Leonard

WFYI is powered by everyday people with a commitment to trusted journalism, inspiring stories and lifelong learning. We love serving our community as public media professionals, and also love taking you behind the scenes of WFYI's headquarters. Today, meet Taylor Leonard, WFYI's Events & Engagement Manager on our Marketing team.

What does your work at WFYI usually entail?

I am the Events and Engagement Manager — every day is different (which is why I love my job). I plan, coordinate and produce events that connect our content to attendees in various ways. This could be our speaker series, Listen Up, screening events, or trivia nights. I also lead our Nerds, British Telly Club and Family Member groups to help connect our supporters witch each other in unique ways including exclusive events, newsletters and more.

I am also the Staff Facilitator of WFYI's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Staff Working Group. This work has been challenging and rewarding. In August, WFYI signed onto Public Media for All, a coalition of public media workers raising awareness on DEI issues in public media with action items and timelines.

Do you have any advice for those who'd like to follow in your footsteps?

Find an organization you're passionate about and figure out how your skills can benefit them. I am very good at details, problem solving and connecting people — these skills help me successfully execute events.

When you're not at work, what can you often be found doing?

When I'm not working you can find me coaching girls rugby at Fishers High School, quilting, changing my hair color or tending to my sourdough starter Rita. My wife and I have two cats (Kiki and Reba Jay) and two dogs (Sampson and Jilly Bean), so someone is always needing attention at our house. We also love to travel (when safer) and doing home renovations.

What do you enjoy most about working at WFYI?

Being able to provide public media to the greater Indianapolis area.

If you had to take one WFYI program with you to a desert island, what would it be and why?

Radiolab because it's a good mix of serious and lighthearted topics. This would keep my mind learning but also make me laugh.