2025 UNCF Women of Faith for Education Afternoon Tea – Philadelphia

Leslie Patterson-Tyler is the Vice President of Program Communications and Partnerships for The Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts. In her role she provides overall leadership and management of communication strategies for Broadway, Ensemble Arts Presents, Education, and Fundraising programs. Leslie also oversees social media and content creation for Campus programming. Additionally, Leslie identifies and facilitates strategic partnerships with external groups, companies, organizations, and individuals that support the mission, vision, and values of The Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble arts.

Leslie Patterson-Tyler is also the co-owner and Chief Operating Officer of Tyler Made Media, LLC., a multi-media consulting company that assists faith-based groups, non-profits, and small businesses tell their stories. Tyler Made Media’s notable clients include POWER Interfaith, Black Bikers Vote, and the historic Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the congregation to which Leslie belongs and where she served as Director of Communications for 16 years. Since assuming the position in 2008, Leslie’s efforts have resulted in Mother Bethel receiving local, national, and international media coverage on dozens of occasions.

Leslie Patterson-Tyler transitioned to PR from a very successful career as a television news executive, having worked in commercial newsrooms across the country for more than 20 years. She held senior management roles in some of the most competitive markets in the nation including Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Miami, and her hometown of Cincinnati. Leslie gained a reputation as a difference maker in the newsroom and her community pushing herself and those around her to do more than settle for the old “if it bleeds, it leads” mentality. Recognizing how important the news is in shaping public opinion, Leslie always strived to present stories that made a difference, by going deeper than what was on the surface.

Leslie Patterson-Tyler’s passion to make a difference is not limited to her own professional career. She has taken that same drive to make a difference throughout her community, serving in the following capacities: Advisor Sarah Allen Women’s Missionary Society; Board Member PHL Diversity; former Board Member of the American Red Cross Penn Jersey Region and Sickle Cell Committee Chairperson; former Board Member and Schools & Youth Activities Committee Leader for the Queen Village Neighbors Association (QVNA); worked with the American Diabetes Association to create “First Ladies Health & Wellness Tea” in an effort to engage wives of area pastors to join the fight to prevent Diabetes; elected member of the School Advisory Council of Julia R. Masterman High School; past President, Meredith Home and School Association; and, former Vice-President of Community Engagement for the Friends of Nebinger Elementary School. She has become a “go-to” person in the health and education arenas in Philadelphia in helping to spread messages to various constituencies. Leslie is a graduate of Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio and studied in the Graduate School at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Leslie recently earned a Diversity & Inclusion Certification from Cornell University and is also a distinguished McCormick-Tribune Fellow and a Fellow of Leadership Philadelphia Class of 2011. She is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists, The Philadelphia Black Public Relations Professionals, Philadelphia Public Relations Association, Philadelphia Public Relations Association, The Links, Inc., Delaware Valley (PA) Chapter, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Rho Theta Omega Chapter. Leslie and her husband, Rev. Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D., live in the Philadelphia area with their children. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, traveling to new places, and exercising.

Dr. Safiyya Shabazz is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians and owner of Fountain Medical Associates, a primary care practice specializing in the care of the whole person from childhood through adulthood.  She holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and a medical doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania. She completed an internship at Morehouse Family Medicine in Atlanta before returning to Philadelphia to complete her residency training at Penn Family Medicine, where she also served on the clinical faculty.

Dr. Shabazz’s career path has included work as a product development scientist where she developed the seminal idea for 2 US & international patents.

Dr. Shabazz has been a featured speaker on local and national programs explaining the link between physical, mental, and spiritual health. She has been a volunteer for the ICNA Relief SHAMS clinic serving the uninsured Muslim community and currently serves as a Commissioner for the Mayor’s Office of Muslim Engagement.

Since 2021, Dr. Shabazz has served as president of the Medical Society of Eastern Pennsylvania, the Greater Philadelphia affiliate of the National Medical Association, the nation’s oldest and largest association of Black physicians. In this role, she has reignited the MSEP’s 63-year legacy as a unifying voice of the area’s Black doctors, winning the 2024 NMA Small Chapter of the Year Award. Recognizing that a physician workforce that is reflective of the community it serves improves the health of that community, she has prioritized efforts that help young doctors find community in the Philadelphia area so that they choose to make this their permanent place to live and work.

Dr. Shabazz is the host of Community Hero Action Group’s Her Health Matters radio show on WURD, which focuses on the health of the mature Black woman. Her advice for health and long life is based on “eating to live” and establishing lasting habits that reduce the risk of death and disease.