It was a sense of connection to the Public Garden that brought Eileen Lee Scafidi to the Friends of the Public Garden in 2014 to serve as the organization’s first communications and outreach director.
A friend forwarded her the job description and suggested that it would be a good fit. “I wasn’t really applying for jobs at the time but when this one came across my radar it was hard to resist – a great organization with an important mission,” said Scafidi. “That night I updated my resume and emailed it. I remember thinking that if I didn’t pursue it, I would regret it.”
After succeeding in helping the Friends raise their visibility for nearly two years, Scafidi found herself contemplating a new endeavor in her professional life, and she made a bittersweet decision to leave her job at FOPG to start Scafidi Communications, a communications and marketing services business.
Scafidi intends to bring her 15-plus years of varied communications and marketing experience to work with clients on communications strategy, social media, content marketing, public relations and content creation. She has worked with many local organizations, including as director of public relations for Starwood Hotels and Resorts at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel and Westin Copley Place, as well as positions at Newbury Street and Back Bay Guide, Fidelity Investments and the National Fire Protection Association, which is based in Quincy.
“I love communications and how it can be used to support an organizations’ goals – I am looking forward to working with a variety of clients to amplify what they are already doing or create new initiatives to help them become more successful,” Scafidi said.
Scafidi Communications will focus on servicing small to mid-size organizations, and undertake special projects for larger ones. Working with nonprofit clients or with organizations that partner with nonprofits in some way is of particular interest to Scafidi. She plans to always focus a percentage of her business on helping nonprofits communicate as a way of supporting the greater good.
“My father would jokingly call me a ‘do-gooder’ when hearing me talk about both professional and personal projects – I took it as a compliment, although come to think of it, I’m not sure he always meant it as one,” Scafidi said.
Do not be surprised if you see Scafidi at FOPG events or notice her work on Friends projects – her former employer became her first client and she is helping out as they plan to transition a new staff member into the role.
“The Friends of the Public Garden has been advocating for the Common, Garden and Mall for more than four decades and doing a great job at it,” Scafidi said. “I am delighted that I was able to contribute for a short time, but the credit really goes to the hundreds of people who have supported them with time and money over many years.”
Eileen Scafidi can be reached at [email protected].
Eileen Lee Scafidi, founder
of Scafidi Communications and consultant to Friends of the Public Garden.