Prior to her involvement with PKS consulting, she was President and CEO of the Consortium for Graduate Studies in Management (CGSM). This is an MBA program that is dedicated to increasing the number of ethnically diverse students enrolled in its 14 member schools that go on to become managers in profit and non-profit companies. Other major organizations she has worked for include The National Urban League, Vice President of Development; United Negro College Fund, National Associate Director for the $250 Million dollar capital campaign; and the City University of New York/Medgar Evers College. Phyllis currently serves as the Vice President of Institutional Advancement at LeMoyne-Owen College.

Very active in the community, she has served on several boards. In the St. Louis area, she was a board member of the World Affairs Council of St. Louis, the Vice-President of the Gateway Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, a national service organization, a member of the corporate Advisory Board of the National Society of Hispanic MBA and the Junior Achievement of St. Louis. Nationally, Dr. Buford was a founding member and board member of the Diversity Pipeline Alliance, an affiliation of the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), the Founding Board of the Fortˇ Foundation, a new non-profit that seeks to increase the number of women in graduate schools of business, Planned Parenthood of New York City, Harlem Dowling ChildrenÕs Services, National Vice President of Minority Political Women, Board Member of the Acting Company in New York City and a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. She is currently a board member for the St. George's Day School in Memphis, Tennessee. Member of Association of Fund Raising Professionals, (AFP) Council for the Support of Education (CASE), Meeting Planners International (MPI), and LINKS, Inc.