Dreams can become possibilities, and possibilities can become reality

For Mary K. Boyd, possibility has never been an abstract idea. It has been a way of moving
through the world.  

Boyd grew up in St. Paul’s historic Rondo neighborhood, in a community she remembers as rich with culture, love and a deep understanding that people needed one another. Her grandparents came north from Mississippi at a time when Black families were shut out of many neighborhoods by discrimination in housing. They eventually found a home in Rondo, where Boyd says the strongest lesson was the importance of “holding together, staying together.”  

“I was parented by my community,” Boyd remembers.  

That belief in community – and in seeing potential where others might not – would shape a
remarkable career in education and social justice.  

Boyd became a social worker, certified counselor, principal, assistant superintendent, dean and university faculty member before founding her own education and social justice consulting business. Looking back, she describes a career guided less by a carefully constructed plan than by an openness to what might be possible.  

As director of a street academy, Boyd worked with students who struggled to find a place in
traditional schools. She remembers young people who were constantly making noise and
rhythm – behavior others might have seen as disruptive. Boyd saw something else. 

“What are the possibilities for you all?” she remembers asking.  

They began putting words to beats and formed a music group. Before long, other schools were asking them to perform. Young people who had been dismissed by others suddenly had an audience.  

For Boyd, the lesson is simple: possibility expands when we recognize our own power and
combine it with the power of others.  

“We all have power,” she says. “We have power within us.”  

A family legacy finds a home at Walker West

That philosophy also connects Boyd to another institution with deep roots in St. Paul’s Black
community: Walker West Music Academy.  

Boyd’s relationship with Walker West stretches back to its earliest days. She knew co-founder Rev. Carl Walker when he was still teaching music out of his home – and even took lessons from him herself. As Walker West grew, Boyd stayed close because she believed in what it was doing: welcoming young people and helping them discover their own place in music. 

Her connection to music is also personal.  

Boyd’s father, James Murray, was a mail carrier with an extraordinary singing voice. Known in
the neighborhood as the “singing mailman,” he performed professionally, including touring
internationally with Porgy and Bess. Boyd remembers her parents as people who encouraged
possibility in their children and one another: when an opportunity presented itself, their response was essentially, go try it out.  

Years later, that family history became the foundation for something lasting. 

To celebrate her mother Lavinia’s birthday, Boyd asked guests not to bring gifts. When people
gave money instead, friends helped her consider how those gifts might become something more enduring. They introduced Boyd to the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, where she
established the James T. and Lavinia Murray Scholarship Fund to help students who need
assistance paying for lessons at Walker West.  

What began as a birthday celebration became a way for one family’s love of music, education
and community to continue creating opportunities for generations.  

Turning possibility into something tangible

That is the idea at the heart of the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation’s Power of Possible:
meaningful change begins when people believe something better can happen – and bring
together the relationships, resources and action to move toward it.  

For Boyd, the Foundation has been a partner in turning her family’s values into something
lasting. She describes having an advisor she can call with questions and encourages others to
consider how their own passions might create opportunities for others.  

And the impact is extending to another generation. Boyd’s children and nephews have become invested in the fund and its future. What began with one generation is becoming a family tradition of giving, designed to continue long after they are gone.  

It is possibility made tangible: a family legacy supporting a Black cultural institution, which in
turn helps young people discover possibilities of their own.  

Boyd puts the idea simply: “Dreams can become possibilities – and together, possibilities
can become reality.” 

That is the Power of Possible.  

Discover more stories of what’s possible here

Sponsored by The Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation

The Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation partners with thousands of donors, nonprofit organizations and community members to help us meet our aspiration: An equitable, just and vibrant Minnesota where all people and communities thrive.