Anthony Boddie filed Monday morning to run for Fort Mill School Board, telling his Facebook friends that “serving is the epitome of my core.”
Boddie, who works as a Senior Account Executive for RICOH-USA, is well-known in the community for his charity work. He serves on the Community Café, the Diversity & Inclusion Committee for Anne Springs Close Greenway, and with the Community of the Hearts Project, which donates goods into the underserved communities in Fort Mill and Rock Hill. He is also a member of the Fort Mill Rotary Club and attends Forest Hill Church.
He has been in the Fort Mill area since 2006. That’s when he and his wife Kathy relocated from Cincinnati after she accepted a position to become an executive for Cedar Fair’s Carowinds Amusement Park. The couple has a 10-year-old daughter, Addison, who attends Fort Mill Elementary School.
Boddie said serving is at the center of his life and joining the Fort Mill School Board would be a natural progression. He was previously appointed to the Advisory Committee by the Superintendent of the Fort Mill School District. He said he has learned a lot from attending school board meetings and watched trustees handle sensitive topics with dignity and grace.
“I want to be a part of collaborative discussions where you can agree to disagree with zero grudge holding,” Boddie said. “This is how you continue to make progress for the common good.”
Over 30 years, Boddie has been affiliated with almost every major theme park in North America, creating memories for visitors. His job as an executive at those parks allowed him to lead and train hundreds of team members, mostly teenagers and college-age students. He now works for RICOH-USA, a global technology company that has been transforming the way people work for more than 80 years.
“Based on my executive experiences, you have to think short term and long term, and make the unpopular decisions at times,” Boddie said. “One of the challenges over the coming years will be how to continue evolving without compromising the integrity of the FMSD foundation. Moreover, I challenge all of us to become more impactful in the underserved communities and figuring out ways on how to mitigate the lack of education. I possess a multi-faceted perspective that allows me to conclude OBJECTIVELY.”
Boddie was a Communications Major at the College of Lake County located in Grayslake, Illinois. He served as the Editor in Chief of the campus publication named The Chronicle Newspaper. Under Boddie’s leadership, The Chronicle earned a Pacemaker Finalist Award as one of the best college publications in the country. The Pacemaker Award is the highest honor is unofficially known as the “Pulitzer Prize” of student journalism. While at the College of Lake County, he also represented the student body with professors and administration on a search committee for the next President of the College.
Boddie is among seven candidates and one of five newcomers running for three available seats on the school board. The other newcomers are Takesha Pollock, Desareta Jones, Hazel Frick and Dr. Nichelle Newton. Trustees Kristy Spears and Dr. Scott Frattaroli have also filed for re-election. (Click on names for previous stories on the candidates.)
Filing ended Monday, and the nonpartisan race goes to voters on Nov. 3.