Phyllis Bustamante became concerned about the environment before it was fashionable. As a child, she paid attention as the adults in her life vocalized their concerns about the pollution of the mountains and rivers she loved so dearly.

Back then, environmental messaging was mostly ads featuring Smokey Bear, advising people to be careful lighting fires, and a teary-eyed Native American poised on a horse over an illegal dumping area.

“He wasn’t Native American. He was of Italian descent,” Bustamante quipped.

Her love for fairness in society blossomed while she was still in primary school, and she still doesn’t take lightly the concepts of social responsibility. As a result, Bustamante has developed a system of encouraging others to give of themselves for the betterment of their community.

“On any given day of the week, you might find Phyllis Bustamante cleaning a city park, painting a park bench or striping a line to help designate a parking lane. On another day, you might find Phyllis delivering food for the Kitchen Angels or stocking food shelves at The Food Depot,” wrote Bernadette Vadurro in her letter nominating Bustamante to be one of The New Mexican’s 10 Who Made a Difference for 2023.

Other days, Vadurro continued, Bustamante can be found working in the gardens of Reunity Resources, a nonprofit urban farm, and on at least one Saturday of every month, she can be found swinging a hammer at a Santa Fe Habitat for Humanity construction site.

Even as a child, Bustamante was a natural-born leader, said her older sister, Camilla Bustamante.

“She always had a sense for pulling people together,” her sister said.

These days, not much has changed for Phyllis Bustamante, who in 2021 created the Community Service Committee of the Democratic Party of Santa Fe County, which has a roster more than 80 volunteers.

“There is a lot of pressure out there to keep resources from people,” Bustamante said. “I don’t think society has created a level playing field.”

Born and raised in Santa Fe, Bustamante said she developed her sense of fairness while being raised by a single mother.

“Growing up in a single-parent household, you quickly learn that not everybody has access to certain things that can help them succeed in society,” Bustamante said. “Not everyone has access to college. Not everyone has the resources.”

Bustamante was one such child. With a knack for sports, she decided her best bet at earning a college education was to pursue a volleyball scholarship.

As a result, she played her way through the University of

Nevada at Las Vegas and Reno, earning her undergraduate degrees in general studies and geography with a minor in environmental science. At the University of Utah, she earned a master’s degree in environmental planning and geography with an emphasis on disturbed lands and water quality.

“I’ve always loved the outdoors, loved going camping, always loved going to the mountains,” Bustamante said. “I had a difficult time trying to determine what to major in. What I finally ended up doing was something I could believe in. Geography allowed me to take a lot of classes in a lot of different departments. It was a broad approach. I like looking at the big picture.”

She took the same approach in examining her own community.

After graduation, Bustamante returned to Santa Fe and worked for the New Mexico Environment Department. She later worked for Santa Fe County and retired in 2019.

“I fully believe in growing society, and if that makes me a socialist, I’m OK with it,” she said.

In 2021, Bustamante approached Vadurro, then the chair of the Santa Fe Democratic Party, with a vision to create a volunteer community that would improve living conditions for people and animals alike.

She soon had party members cleaning parks, working with animals at the Santa Fe Animal Shelter & Humane Society and volunteering with organizations like The Food Depot, Kitchen Angels, local homeless shelters and the Santa Fe Indigenous Center, Vadurro said.

Since then, she has chaired the committee.

“This was a really rich and unique way to reach voters. it’s the spirit of what we do,” Vadurro said. “She spearheaded it, designed the T-shirts, even modeled them for the website then kept track of the orders.”

Camilla Bustamante said her sister exudes competence, helping others to be confident in their own work.

“People trust her. They trust her confidence,” her sister said. “They know she’s a sturdy person who isn’t going to falter. She’s got their back. They trust her integrity.”

Vadurro agreed, describing Phyllis Bustamante as a humble person who doesn’t want attention for her efforts.

“She has a good sense of herself, and she does the next right thing when we need something done,” Vadurro said. “She’s a very generous, unassuming and very kind person. Whatever she does, she does confidently and competently.”

Inclusivity in the community matters, Phyllis Bustamante said.

Everybody is part of the community, she added.

“Until we start to recognize others as ourselves,” she said, “until we see ourselves in the other, we are in trouble.”