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Amber Boykins Spearheads Neighborhood Initiative |
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 The
appointment of Amber Boykins as Senior Program Manager of Provident’s
Self-Reliant Community Initiative in the Penrose/O’Fallon neighborhoods
of North St. Louis marks the first employee of Provident to work
full-time on the initiative. This effort is a part of meeting the
strategic mission and ends of Provident. Our overarching goal is to
develop and implement a comprehensive community initiative as a method
of addressing the needs of impoverished communities and families in a
way that can be replicated in other neighborhoods in St. Louis and
elsewhere, either by Provident or other agencies. Of paramount
importance in Provident’s approach is to utilize a community-based,
grass roots approach whereby the neighborhoods develop their own
capacity to continue to be a vital part of the broader metropolitan
community.
Under the leadership of Johanna Wharton, Vice President of Community
Service, a roadmap for the future of the initiative has been developed,
a community needs survey has been completed, and limited introductory
contact has begun with neighborhood associations and families. With
the addition of Ms. Boykins to the staff, Provident will now have
someone “on the ground” daily, planning and implementing programs
identified by the community. She is a life-long resident of that
community and served two terms in the Missouri House of
Representatives, having run unopposed in the 60th district for the last
term she could legally serve because of term limits.
A graduate of Columbia College, Columbia, Missouri, with a B.S. degree
in finance and management, Amber is pursuing a MBA degree at Webster
University. As a state representative she had three key committee
assignments: ranking member of the Transportation and Economic
Development Committee, the House Budget Committee, and the House Health
and Social Services Committee.
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