Fast 15: Jessica Boyd
by January 1, 2016 12:00 am 283 views
Jessica Boyd is on a mission to make a difference, and nothing, not even a breast cancer diagnosis at age 25, has slowed her down.
Boyd was diagnosed in December 2014, about halfway through a one-year fellowship with the newly established Cisneros Center for New Americans in Springdale.
Anticipating chemotherapy the following January, she reluctantly quit Cisneros and relocated to Little Rock, her hometown, in order to get treatment and be near family.
“I made the right decision not to work during my treatment,” she said. “I think not working enabled me not only to tackle my illness physically, and then heal physically, it also allowed for emotional growth.”
However, she was anxious to start helping people again.
In October, four months after undergoing a double mastectomy and less than one month after ending a series of 35 radiation treatments, Boyd had moved back to Northwest Arkansas and started a new job as the first executive director of the newly formed Community Venture Foundation, the nonprofit arm of Startup Junkie Consulting LLC.
CVF supports the local entrepreneurial community through educational efforts and capacity-building for “nonprofit entrepreneurs,” as Boyd calls them.
“We’re using entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial thinking as a tool for economic and social empowerment, which can really address root causes for a number of issues in our community,” she said.
It’s a good fit for her unique skillset. Boyd has master’s degrees in both public service and business administration through a joint program of the Clinton School of Public Service and the University of Arkansas.
Studying business went against the grain of her previous academic pursuits — anthropology and Spanish — but Boyd says it’s been indispensable in her nonprofit career.
“I want to make a difference in this world,” she said. “Grant makers always want to see the numbers. How many people are you impacting? But in my mind if I could just impact one person and help them get to where they want to be, then everything was worth it.”