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MEET NICOLE
A WORKING MOM, READY TO WORK FOR US!
Nicole Akins Boyd is a wife, mother, volunteer, attorney, businesswoman, and teacher who believes in the goodness of people. She is rooted in the values of a local upbringing but brings fresh ideas from her life experiences, both inside and outside our community. She believes in the power of teamwork and understands the value of hard work. Nicole is your family’s voice in the Senate and needs your vote!
NICOLE'S
FOUNDATION
OF SERVICE
Nicole grew up in Oxford and Lafayette County and is a graduate of Oxford High School. As a child, her days after school were spent on the Oxford Square or traveling to homes with her mother, Joyce Akins, the Lafayette County Extension Home Economist, to help families in need. Her mother taught her the value of serving our district families and how service creates thriving communities. Nicole’s father, Noal Akins, was a longtime educator, coach, and later businessman and legislator from our district. To Nicole, he instilled the value of hard work, a winning attitude, and community service, through his service and dedication to our community.
In the Senate
Nicole Akins Boyd was honored to be elected to the Mississippi Senate, where she represents Lafayette and Panola Counties, in November of 2019. Nicole is completing her first term in the Mississippi Senate where she Chairs the Women, Children, and Families Task Force, and is the Vice-Chair of the Senate Universities and Colleges Committee. Nicole is a member of the Education, Insurance, Judiciary A, Technology, Tourism, Housing, and Finance Committees. Additionally, Nicole is the first freshman appointed in recent history to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.
Over the last four years, Nicole has fought to pass over 75 bills that improve our roads, public schools, health care, and public safety, all while lowering your taxes, and ultimately bettering our families, wallets, community, State, and Nation.
Nicole was honored to receive the 2020 Legislator of the Year Award from the Small Business Federation for her work with small businesses and their employees during the pandemic. Additionally, this year she received the Champion for Children Award from Thrive and the Health Care Leadership Award from the Community Health Centers.
NICOLE'S SERVICE AND EXPERIENCE
SPECIAL ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL
Protecting our State’s Natural Resources and Sixteenth Section Lands
Nicole began serving Mississippi as a Special Assistant Attorney General, prosecuting those who tried to use our state as an illegal dumping ground. She litigated to make sure our sixteenth section lands, dedicated for the educational benefit of the local schools, were leased for their highest maximum value. Additionally, she worked to protect our public tidelands while monitoring all legislation that affected our state’s natural resources.
Passing Legislation and Working with Local/State Law Enforcement
Nicole served as the Division Director of the Youth Services Division which spearheaded passing legislation and enforcing laws that kept alcohol and tobacco out of the hands of minors. She worked closely with city and county law enforcement to train their officers and local retailers. She led the efforts to form hundreds of partnerships with local retailers to eliminate the illegal sales of tobacco and alcohol to minors. Additionally, as Youth Services Director, Nicole worked on a variety of issues including school safety, substance abuse, and childhood wellness.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF A NOT FOR PROFIT
Community Development and Passing Legislation
Nicole continued to serve the citizens of our state as the director of a non-profit health care organization, whose work and dedication led to an 88% reduction in MS teenage smoking rates. She understands each community is different and, leaning on experiences from working with her mother, helped establish over 30 community coalitions around the state. Each of these coalitions gave Nicole a better understanding of each district’s unique strengths, and a firm belief that when we harness the resources of our Mississippi communities, we can create amazing accomplishments. Under Nicole’s leadership, thousands of Mississippi youth rallied to pass legislation to prohibit tobacco on school property. Additionally, numerous communities worked to pass clean indoor air laws. Nicole plans to use these experiences in the legislature as she builds coalitions with fellow legislators to, together, grow the economy of our Mississippi communities.
Education Programs
While Nicole directed the not for profit, the program worked in hundreds of Mississippi classrooms to develop teacher/classroom materials that were integrated into the existing state curriculum standards. The program also established a system that compensated teachers for training time and rewarded teachers for developing additional materials.
Fiscal Management
As director, Nicole managed a staff of over 25 members along with program development and implementation. Additionally, she directed the budgeting and contract monitoring for over 300 contracts annually. As general counsel, she implemented fiscal and risk management trainings, as wells as performing numerous harassment trainings for contractors and staff.
AS AN ADVOCATE FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
Like her mother would have predicted, Nicole has worked tirelessly as a volunteer to MS families over the past 13 years as an attorney and counselor to families of special need children. Parenthood changes most people. However, as the parent of a son with special needs, Nicole is completely honest in noting that the “challenges of having a special needs child completely transformed my husband and me.”
Working for children, like her son and other families like hers, led her to work and advocate at nearly every level of government on education, insurance and disability reform. On the federal level, she testified before Congress and successfully worked to get legislation passed. She worked with teachers and as a special education law professor. Appointed by the Governor, Lt. Governor, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and State Superintendent of Education, she served and led numerous state educational, autism, and early childhood boards and task forces. In her communities, she volunteered her time assisting the families of children with special needs on educational, vocational, and insurance issues. Working on such issues for special needs children required her to understand the educational and vocational needs of all of our children. With the aforementioned tools and experiences, she will champion the fight for our children.
IN HER COMMUNITY
Similar to her parents, Nicole values community involvement. Tourism is a significant economic generator in the local economy and Nicole served for six years on the Tourism Board and for a year as Chair. Additionally, she chaired the city’s Alcohol Safety Task Force, served on the Alcohol Sunday Sales committee, and continues to work with an entity that is working to beautify the historic cemetery. She volunteered with her children’s schools on various committees from clothes closets, fundraising, teacher appreciation committees, to reading fairs.
Additionally, Nicole serves on the board of a community bank which is locally owned and operated. The bank focuses on the needs of the businesses and families in our local community. Nicole believes that it is imperative that we have banks in our community where the lending decisions are made by people who understand the local economy and business needs.
A PARENT AND WIFE
Nicole is married to Daniel Boyd, a local physician and small-business owner. They will be married 29 years this December. Nicole and Daniel have two children, Izzy and Speight.