Part of our Nashville’s Not Just Country 2025 Series in partnership with Pinnacle Financial Partners

Monique Horton Odom

Director, Metro Parks and Recreation

Her Story

To be truly seen is to be loved; to grow up in a city that truly sees you has the power to shape who you are. From being seen as a child by the city that raised her, it is now Monique Horton Odom’s life mission to carry that acknowledgement forward in her role as Director of Parks and Recreation for Metro Parks.

A lifelong Nashvillian, Monique hails from Out North and is a 1990 graduate of Whites Creek High School. She went on to earn her undergraduate degree from Fisk University and a graduate degree from Tennessee State University. As a child, she spent much of her time enjoying activities around the city—especially those that were free. From an early age, Monique understood the power of access: when a city offers resources, programs, and spaces that are affordable, it creates opportunity. Whether through summer camps that gave kids a place to go while parents worked, or chances to connect with peers, those experiences shaped her understanding of how exposure leaves lifelong impact.

For Monique, becoming the first woman—and the first Black woman—to serve as Director of Metro Parks is a milestone. The history is not lost on her, but she doesn’t dwell on it. Her greatest honor is the privilege of showing up every day to serve the people of Nashville.

She thinks about the sacrifices of people like her grandmother that give her the ability to show up and serve the way she does.

Monique’s maternal grandmother was a domestic day-worker, serving in the houses of white residents in the Belle Meade area – a job that she took on in the tenth grade to care for her family. This sacrifice is one Monique reflects on every day and wears with honor and pride. 

“I reflect on my grandmother, my maternal grandmother, every day, and think about where I am in my career, in my profession, and what she did, and the juxtaposition of those two, and what was possible then for a black woman, and what is possible for us now.”

Enjoying the City

Today, Monique finds joy in her alma mater, in her church, in picnics at Centennial Park, and in the fruits of her own labor across Metro Parks. She still loves Nashville classics like Wendell Smith’s Meat and Three, a place that reminds her of her grandmother’s cooking.

Above all, she treasures the character of the city itself:

“Nashville has always had its own character. Even as a child, I would describe it as a small-town feel. The politeness of strangers—holding the door for one another, letting someone in during traffic and receiving that wave of thanks—that’s a Nashville-ism I deeply appreciate.”

For Monique Horton Odom, being truly seen by her city shaped her life. Now, through her leadership at Metro Parks, she works every day to ensure future generations feel that same love and belonging in the city they call home. Just as her grandmother’s sacrifices made space for her path, Monique is creating space for the children of Nashville—reminding them, and the city itself, that the greatest legacy we leave is in the opportunities we provide for others.

Story Credits:

Written by: Jada Thompson

Photography: LeXander Bryant

Looks + Styling:  Imogene + Willie

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