M.Simone Boyd dreams of a day when her neighborhood will be free from violence, and as a novelist, organizer, and speaker…she is working towards that day. She co-authored The Day Sonny Died (eGenco, 2016) with her dad.
Whether advocating with city administrators or organizing community bike rides…Simone tells stories. Simone is gifted at helping people learn to:
- Anchor neighborhood identity
- Foster belonging between long-term & new neighbors
- Develop creative solutions to increase community & civic engagement
- Forge productive relationships with elected officials and city administrators
Her advocacy helped secure $3 million dollars of infrastructure investments for her neighborhood and helped raise $35,000 from developers, investors, and private foundations to pay LOCAL artists to perform during a street festival.
For 10 years, Simone has researched and written on what makes relationships thrive or die. Her ability to pair academic research with personal experience and humor led to thousands of monthly readers. Her writing has appeared in Black and Married with Kids, The Praying Woman, The Tennessee Tribune and Urbaanite. Her debut novel, The Day Sonny Died, received a starred review from Library Journal. In 2018, she was awarded the Individual Artist Fellowship for Literature from the Tennessee Arts Commission.
Working in Washington, D.C. as an energy analyst, taught Simone how to navigate bureaucracy, politicians and special interests while staying true to the call of service. Who knew these skills would transfer to neighborhood organizing?!
A Nashville native, Simone obtained a degree in journalism and earned her MBA, with the goal of learning how nonprofits can use business principles to make their work sustainable. Following graduate school, she was awarded the James E. Webb Internship at the Smithsonian Institution.
Simone is the eldest of eight kids. Her awesome husband, Phillip, is an only child. They spend their time working on neighborhood projects, trying to keep their two children productively occupied and standing around the kitchen plotting their next meal.