After spending a career in politics, education and entertainment, Phyllis Beard is now serving her first term as City Director of District 2. She has organized "Get out the Vote" (GOTV) events, registered voters and canvassed neighborhoods for political candidates at the national, state and local levels. In Minnesota, Beard served as the educational consultant for Mark Dayton’s gubernatorial campaign. As a steward for the American Federation of Teachers in Minneapolis, she had the opportunity to help screen political candidates for endorsements.
Beard earned a Master of Education in curriculum development from St. Mary’s University in Winona, Minnesota. Her Bachelor of Arts is in music performance from Stetson University in DeLand, Florida. She has taught and tutored K–12 and university students in three different cities and in three different countries. Most recently, she was an English instructor at Guangdong Peizheng College and Wenzhou University in China. However, it was her love for playing the upright bass that has been her passport to travel to 30 countries. Living in New York also provided a venue for her to shine on stage, where she performed at Cleopatra’s Needle, the Village Underground and after-hours at the famed Blue Note Jazz Club.
This Spa City native is the daughter of eight-term Hot Springs City Councilman Elmer Beard and the late long-time educator Dorothy Beard. In 2016, Beard returned home to care for her recently widowed father. Since then, she has been at his side attending municipal government and community meetings. Now, she is serving in the same chamber where her father served more than 35 years before.