Atiim B. Boykin, MFT, MHRTC

I am a community organizer, social worker, family therapist, storyteller, musician, songwriter, and spoken word poet. As a student of and leader in these roles, I've spent more than 20 years working with non-profits, government agencies, and schools focused on providing equity, access, and inclusion to stabilization and growth resources via educational and therapeutic supports. Barrier removal is central to my career. Anything I do professionally or creatively promotes community health, renewal, and resilience. I achieve my central purpose through creating connections between people and available resources, and by exposing & filling gaps in services. Most recently I'd worked as the director of client solutions for Reconnect, a Public Benefit Company building technology to fight recidivism, incarceration, and addiction. Prior to that, I proudly served as co-founder and director of clinical case-management for the Young Adult Court (YAC) in San Francisco. YAC was a ‘first of its kind’ collaborative court serving criminal justice-involved 18-25 yo. Young adults. With programming based on the developing prefrontal cortex, YAC extended, and extends, opportunities for restitution and restorative justice through highly engaging therapeutic supports, community linkages, and job training. Regarding entertainment, since 2001 I have owned and operated Ridah Ridah Entertainment as an umbrella for all of my creative endeavors, from audio & lighting design, voice-overs, to producing personal music and multi-media projects. Find out about my current projects @ http://Atiim.org Most recently I've assisted Portland Ovations (PO) as their Co-Director of Engagement for Community Programs, where I forged and maintained relationships with community partners and stakeholders, organized and implemented an accessibility tickets program, and provided lifelong learning opportunities for the community. I currently serve on their advisory board. Lastly, I serve in the advisory circle of Indigo Arts Alliance, an organization also based in Portland, Maine, whose mission is to "build global connections by bringing together Black and Brown artists from diverse backgrounds to engage in their creative process with an opportunity to serve as both mentors and mentees." For three years now, I have produced sound environments to read-alouds for their annual Beautiful Blackbird Children's Book Festival, a festival focused on ensuring Black children and children of color see images in their likeness and hear stories they can identify and relate to. It is a festival for all children.