Diane Clements-Boyd thought her calling was in Los Angeles, California. Instead, returning to her Midwestern hometown has led to a fulfilling, 20-year career as executive director of the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Human Relations Commission.
The Benjamin Bosse High School graduate wanted to be a retail buyer before she landed a job as an executive administrative assistant with the Los Angeles Board of Realtors (now the Greater Los Angeles Association of Realtors). She returned to Evansville in 1993 after 13 years in California when her mother, Lorene Clements, was diagnosed with cancer. She planned to stay for only a few years and started working as an immunization coordinator at the Community Action Program of Evansville (CAPE). Clements-Boyd later spent a decade as a program manager for the Evansville Black Coalition.
After her mother passed away in 2003, Clements-Boyd considered returning to Los Angeles. Instead, she was encouraged to apply for a position in the new administration of then-mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel as the executive director of the local Human Relations Commission. It’s a position she has held for two decades.
“I felt it was a really important mission,” Clements-Boyd explains. “I was part of the human relations club at Bosse. This was a great opportunity to give back to the community.” Her office — which includes an administrative assistant and three investigators — investigates discrimination claims in employment, housing, public accommodations, and education. It also oversees the Evansville Commission on the Social Status of African American Males, the Advisory Board on Disability Services, and the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee.
“We’re the eyes and ears of the city government regarding social justice issues and populations that often go unnoticed,” Clements-Boyd says. “What has kept me here are mentors — Jacqueline LaGrone, Estella Moss, Marvaline Prince, and Connie Robinson — who have helped me grow into this position.”
She is most proud of reviving the Annual Dinner & Mayor’s Celebration of Diversity Awards in 2004. Awards are conferred on area businesses, organizations, and people who embrace and advance diversity in regional initiatives.
Clements-Boyd says her job “doesn’t feel like work. It’s not just something I do; it’s part of who I am.”
