Festus R-VI Hall of Fame Inductee - Lynette Boone
Ms. Lynette Boone was born on October 30, 1956. She is a 1975 graduate of Festus High School and a 1979 graduate from Northwestern University where she received her Bachelor's degree in Journalism. She earned her Master's in Business Administration in 1981 from Columbia University in New York City.
While in high school, Lynette served as President of both her Senior Class and National Honor Society, she was Co-Editor of the Yearbook, Captain of the Scholar Quiz Team, participated in both Marching and Concert Band and was the recipient of the coveted Tommy Alexander Award.
Ms. Boone's career began in Minneapolis, Minnesota in Marketing Management for General Mills Corporation. From there she moved to Chicago, Illinois and has worked for consumer product companies such as L'Oreal, Johnson Products and Keebler Company. She also spent part of her career in the non-profit sector in the field of economic development. As Vice President of Programs for Women’s Self-Employment Project, she assisted low-income women in making the transition from public assistance to starting their own businesses. Her work with this service also gave her opportunities to speak to heads of state about economic development in developing countries. Most recently her work has involved Education Services where she served as Executive Director K-12 Partnerships for Kaplan Test Prep. With this position Lynette has been Regional Director where she managed four states in the Midwest.
Her greatest accomplishment is bringing a program to inner city Chicago through Kaplan Test Prep which enabled over 3,700 inner city youth to receive a quality test preparation resource. Aligned with that program was her effort with World Sport Chicago which also offers low income athletes test preparation.
Ms. Boone's humble upbringing and belief of every person having three key influences in your life, Parents, Pastor and Teachers have inspired her to head up her own business in developing a college and career readiness curriculum targeting urban youth. Her desire is for students to be taught about college opportunities and work beyond test preparation by building a leveling field for every student. She attributes her success to her parents, the late Henry and Maudell Boone. Her spiritual foundation started at Ward Chapel AME Church. Educators that were role models for her were Mr. Ben Whitener, Terry Coleman, Willa McCullough, Margaret Gill and Gene Roland to name a few.
Ms. Boone has one daughter, Ashlee Mathews, a graduate of Howard University. She teaches at a private pre-school and is attending Roosevelt University to obtain her Master's in Human Resources.
Lynette is an avid ceramic designer. She also enjoys the theater and arts, loves to travel and read. She served for seven years on the Board of Directors of Christ Universal Temple and was the keynote speaker during Jefferson County Black History month in February 2012.