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Hi, my name is Krysia Villon and I have served as a volunteer Newton Community Pride (NCP) board member for almost 2 years. My daughter, Kahlo, and I have lived in Newton Center for most of her life (almost 9 years) and I grew up just a stone’s throw away in Brookline. I am a small business owner with an online food specialty business, a food historian and instructor, and a community organizer.
While I had been enjoying some of NCP’s programs, like WindowART and the Fall Concert Series, it was not until NCP temporarily became the fiscal sponsor for Indigenous Peoples Day Newton, of which I am an organizer, that I learned of the broader reach this nonprofit has in our community. I had been enjoying the public art initiatives, WinterFEST, and its support of other city programs such as Newton Porchfest and the Juneteenth celebration all along but had yet to connect the dots. The dots have since been connected and I now see firsthand the reach of NCP in our community! I appreciate the quality of NCP events and am especially grateful to be a part of an organization that offers and supports free programming all year round, like the recent Black History Month city-wide events.
Volunteering as part of the Board has opened my eyes to the larger community and given me an opportunity to offer a perspective from often underrepresented groups in Newton while deepening and strengthening my own roots here. As a single parent, Indigenous Latine/x mother, and Queer woman I hope my presence on the board continues to lift up certain voices that are not always heard, and that’s not because we don’t have big and clear voices, but that we haven’t always been handed the mic or figured out how to turn it on. NCP’s mission is an important one and the programs and values that exist to uphold it – arts & culture, beautification, and service – mean that I get to be a part of awarding scholarships to teen artists, select local organizations to get a boost of assistance through our micro grant funding, and even make some of our busy city centers even more beautiful by lining the streets with city-inspired artful banners, among other things.
I look forward to working with the board and staff on our future programs and continue to see NCP objectives come to fruition, beautifully and in celebration, for all to enjoy.
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