19th Annual Black New England Conference:
The State of the Union:
A Critical Perspective on Black America from 1776 to 2026
2025 Citizen of the Year
The Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire established its Citizen of the Year award to recognize and individual who, through a commitment to serving the community, strengthens and inspires others to make a difference. Individuals are also selected for their work that aligns with the conference theme.
Shay Stewart-Bouley
Executive Director, Community Change, Inc.
A Chicago native born on the crossroads of working-class, Black and female, Shay Stewart-Bouley’s career since 1997 has focused on weaving these intersections into her daily life and professional work. Since the mid-1990s, Shay has worked in the non-profit sector, during the earlier years working primarily with marginalized groups and in the later years focusing on non-profit administration working both as an executive director at a small faith-based non-profit in Southern Maine and as a non-profit consultant/grant-writer to other organizations. In the early-2000s, Shay moved from her native Chicago to Maine and, as a Black woman living in one of the least diverse spaces in the United States, found herself writing regularly about race relations, social justice, and white supremacy.
Shay is a prolific blogger at her award-winning blog Black Girl in Maine Media, where race is a major theme but also her daily life as a Black, middle-aged woman in a world where these traits frequently are not valued. Shay wrote for the now-defunct Portland Phoenix, crafting a monthly column titled “Diverse City” that ran for over 10 years. Shay’s work has been published in national publications and her work has appeared in several anthologies. In 2016, Shay did a TedX talk entitled “Inequity, Injustice… Infection .” In 2021-22, Shay served as vice chair of the Portland Maine Charter Commission.
Shay holds an undergraduate degree from DePaul University, where she self-designed a program to focus on African American Health and Wellness and health disparities; she also holds a Master of Education degree in Administration and Supervision from Antioch University New England. Shay is the mother of two and grandmother of four. In 2024, Shay celebrates her 10th year at the helm of CCI, where she is still as passionate about racial justice work and the necessity of CCI as when she started. While she is no longer as young as she was when she came onboard in 2014, she still decompresses with Ashtanga yoga, which remains one of her many passions, aside from work and family.
The Black Heritage Trail of NH is pleased to present the 2025 Citizen of the Year Award to Shay Stewart-Bouley.