Melissa in the News

Soul Development with Melissa Boyd

Soul Development with Melissa Boyd

It’s all about service for Melissa Boyd. Reiki Master, yoga instructor, sound healer and Psychic Medium — all hats she wears, and all vocations she shares in service to others.

“I have dedicated my life to be of the highest service. I have always trusted my higher guidance, my psychic abilities, and the ability to foresee situations and act accordingly,” says Ms. Boyd who recently shared her talents as a presenter at Cape Cod’s Love Yoga Fest.

Totally transparent, she shares her story of having found yoga at a point in her life when she weighed 340 pounds. She credits the practice with helping her to shed 170 pounds of that extra weight and thus prompting her to become a certified yoga instructor.

Melissa Boyd has dedicated her life to being of the highest service. Melissa’s journey as a Psychic Medium started at a young age and she has always used her gifts of spirit to help others. Melissa has a clientele from around the globe and teaches classes on a variety of subjects to help others develop the inner wisdom of their soul using mediumship, yoga and organizational development. She used her intuition to advance organizations and world issues for over 15 years in Non-Profit Management and government. Her many roles include National Trainer, Lobbyist, Professional Development Director, Commissioner and Board member.

Melissa holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Southern Maine and a Master’s Degree in Public Policy and Management from the Muskie Institute. She is a Reiki Master and a 200 RYT. Over the past five years she has assisted thousands of people worldwide to embrace their life path and connect them with their loved ones in spirit. For nearly a year she hosted the talk show “Spiritual Tools” on Sedona Blog Talk Radio. This year her first book “Intuition: Grow Your Knowing^®” will be released.

Some of her teachers include James Van Praagh, Deepak Chopra, Tony Stockwell, Dr. Stephen Covey, Diana Cooper, John Holland, Panache Desai, Yogi Desai, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The following excerpt is from the August 2014 newsletter produced by A Place to Start.

A Place to Start has been instrumental in helping with our mom as she has declined with the disease of Alzheimer’s. Sally and Diana are truly compassionate and knowledgeable and the level of assistance they provide is priceless. As our family maneuvers this difficult disease we are blessed to know that we always have their support and guidance. They have helped us make many difficult but necessary choices to best provide for her safety and comfort. Above all, the empathy and compassion they have provided is why we will be forever grateful to A Place to Start.

Melissa Boyd

As a member of the Advocacy Committee for MANP (Maine Associations of Nonprofits), we are delighted to share with you the 2011-2012 Annual Report.

The following article was originally published in the Fall 2011 issue of Maine Sierran: the newletter for the Maine Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Green Sneakers Project Gets Rolling in York County

Former Maine Physicians for Social Responsibility staff member Melissa Boyd leads a grassroots effort.

The Maine Partners for Cool Communities’ Green Sneakers Project is moving full steam ahead to improve energy efficiency in Maine’s KEYS area (Kittery, Eliot, York, and South Berwick). The KEYS is the fastest growing region in the state.

The person doing much of the grassroots work for the Green Sneakers effort in Southern Maine is Melissa Boyd. Melissa is very familiar with Cool Communities work – she was actually involved in founding of the group while on the staff of Maine Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility.

“It’s really exciting now to be working right in communities – doing grassroots organizing for the group that I helped get started.”

In the KEYS area there are two programs which are boosting the potential for residential energy efficiency – PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) and the Seacoast Energy Initiative (SEI). SEI has $500,000 in funding from Efficiency Maine that is available for low interest loans to homeowners who wish to make their homes more energy efficient. The program covers the towns of Eliot, Kittery, North Berwick, South Berwick, Ogunquit, and York.

PACE, which is a statewide program, offers up to $15,000 to homeowners for energy efficiency improvements. The loans are repaid via a special assessment on the property tax over a period of years. The Green Sneakers Project is organizing a number of public forums to explain the PACE program.

Melissa notes that her work has expanded beyond the original KEYS towns and now includes Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Ogunquit, and North Berwick.

“Kennebunk has been particularly active,” she says. There is a PACE forum on October 6 which features a local homeowner who received a PACE loan. And the forum will be broadcast on public access TV.”

Kennebunk also agreed to include information about the PACE program in their tax bill package.

Much of Melissa’s work in the KEYS will involve organizing a canvas in all the KEYS area towns on October 22.

The Green Sneakers canvas involves recruiting volunteers to go door-to-door in their communities, talking with their neighbors about the benefits of energy efficiency and offering a reusable shopping bag full of valuable information and a free CFL bulb.

“We are working hard to inspire people to get out and do canvassing, but we also want to keep the momentum going after the canvas,” Melissa says. “Ultimately we want to get the message across about the importance of energy efficiency in helping with climate change.”

As part of her efforts, Melissa is working with high school green and energy clubs.

“We are getting kids excited and hopefully, inspiring them to get out and take part in the canvas.”

Special signs with the Green Sneakers website will be posted in every town. There will also be letters to the editor and op-ed pieces in local papers.

Melissa hopes that all the work in the KEYS area will lead to citizen teams that will continue the work.

We are happy to share the following coverage of Melissa Boyd in this article published in the Bangor Daily News. Melissa is quoted a speaking on behalf of MAPSA, saying that the group was “very happy” with the decision to prohibit the sale of fermented lemonade to minors.

As a Commissioner for the Maine Commission for Community Service, we are pleased to share the 2009 Annual Report. We accomplished a lot this year!

We are happy to share this article published by Beverage Daily International concerning the campaign to reclassify Fentimans Victorian Lemonade as “imitation liquor” in Maine. Melissa is quoted based on her role as a campaigner with the Maine Alliance to Prevent Substance Abuse.

We are so pleased to share with you this Climate Action Report from the University of Maine. Melissa Boyd and Holli R. Andrews worked together on the section for Portland, ME, entitled “Leading Sustainable Portland by Example: Recommendations for a Sustainable Portland City Hall.”

The following article is reprinted from the November 23, 2007 issue of “Kennebunk Post.” A PDF of the original article is provided below.

Kennebunk Post – November 23, 2007

The Maine Commission for Community Service is pleased to announce that Melissa Ann Boyd of Kennebunk has been appointed by Governor John E. Baldacci to serve as a member of their board.

“Melissa was chosen for her involvement in community service and her passion to have an impact through service on Maine’s communities and citizen. With her knowledge and expertise, her assistance in designing and implementing effective vehicles for growing and sustaining Maine’s community service ethic will be an invaluable contribution to the commission,” said Maryalice Crofton, the Commission’s executive director.

“I would like to help encourage young people to give back to their communities whether it may be by becoming an AmeriCorps member or by volunteering in their local community agencies. As a two year AmeriCorps alum, I have learned the value of service and it has transformed my life. By serving on the Commission, I hope to assist in developing new partnerships that will strengthen their work statewide,” Boyd said.

Boyd is currently the executive director of Physicians for Social Responsibility Maine. She has more than 15 years experience in youth development, event planning, non-profit management, public relations and environmental education. As an AmeriCorps Promise Fellow she was instrumental in helping to bring General Colin Powell to Maine to A Call to Service Event, which launched Giving Maine’s Promise on WGME 13. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication/Public Relations from the University of Southern Maine and is currently a half-time student at The Muskie Institute working on her Masters in Public Policy and Management.

The Maine Commission for Community Service is a 26 member board that is charged with fostering community service and volunteer initiatives for the State of Maine. It is the state liaison for the Federal Corporation for National and Community Service, administering AmeriCorps grants and overseeing Maine’s national service programs including AmeriCorps, Learn and Serve and Senior Corps programs throughout the state. The commission also provides training and technical assistance to volunteer managers statewide online volunteer database, VolunteerMaine.gov.

To learn more about the Maine Commission for Community Service visit www.maineservicecommission.gov or contact the Maine Commission for Community Service at 287-8931 or service.commission@maine.gov.