Norfolk Botanical Garden’s Commitment to Inclusion & Diversity

President's Council on Inclusion and Diversity

Today’s President’s Council on Inclusion and Diversity began as a diversity committee that was established by the Norfolk Botanical Garden (NBG) Board in October 2003. It was prompted by a group of Ruffner Middle School Academy (NPS) students who formed a club, International Problem Solvers. They looked for a community problem to solve and asked NBG permission to look into its diversity as it related to attendance, employment, events, etc. Some were concerned that the Garden did not represent the City of Norfolk and surrounding cities that it served. They designed a project with the assistance of the Garden’s Department of Education and Public Relations titled D.I.R.T. – DIGGING INTO REPRESSED TIMES.

The NBG was placed on the Virginia Historical Register June 2004 (Cheryl White, graduate student at ODU used NBG as her thesis project. Her work and the students’ inspired her to present to the VA and USA historical society)
The NBG was placed on the National Historical Register in July 2005
September 2008 – the WPA Memorial Garden Ground Breaking Ceremony (At the original 25 acre site named the WPA Memorial Garden)
April 2009 – the WPA Memorial Garden Sculpture – “Breaking Ground” unveiled by Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Ferguson, an original gardener, and the theme garden officially opened
April 2010 – 1st WPA Heritage Celebration to be held annually to honor the garden’s heritage
May 2013 – celebrated the 75th Anniversary of NBG with Maya Angelou as guest celebrity
July 2014 – Michael P. Desplaines, introduced as President and CEO NBG
September 2014 – the President’s Committee on Inclusion and Diversity replaced the Diversity Committee and continued the work
February 2016 – the Norfolk Public Library honored the WPA Gardeners
May 2016 – Norfolk City Arts Commission unveiled a public arts sculpture – “Intertwine” at the gate of NBG to honor the WPA workers
May 2016 – the first “Ground Breakers Awards”
July 2021 – Clenise Platt was elected as Chair of the NBG Board of Directors. She was also selected as Chair for the PCID committee.
In 2021 – NBG board became the most diverse board in the Garden’s history with 33 percent of the board members from under represented communities.
September 2023 -NBG celebrates the 15th annual WPA Garden Heritage Celebration
July 2024-Ramona Farrow accepts position as PCID Committee Chair
August 2024-PCID committee selects first PCID scholarship recipient, Laila Jones from VA Wesleyan University
September 2024-Updated memorial sign with new names was installed near the WPA statue in the WPA Memorial Garden.