I Stand With Dr. Will Boyd

Guest Opinion by Lisa Ward

Maybe you haven't heard yet, but an amazing, qualified man is running for Governor and before you form an uninformed decision, I wanted to introduce the man I have known for 16 years to you.

I have heard the doubts. I have heard the questions. I have heard people dismiss Dr. Will Boyd before taking the time to truly know him. I want to speak plainly, from the heart, about why that dismissal says more about our habits than about his qualifications.

Some say they do not know him. That is fair. But not knowing someone is not the same as disqualifying them. Leadership deserves a fair hearing, especially when the future of Alabama is at stake.

What I see in Dr. Will Boyd is not a symbol or a style, but a lifetime of preparation. I see a leader whose experience was earned not in soundbites or slogans, but in the real systems that shape everyday life for millions of people.

Dr. Boyd has spent decades leading complex institutions. Education systems, workforce pipelines, innovation initiatives, and community-based programs. He has managed budgets, guided teams, made hard decisions, and delivered results where failure has real consequences for families, students, and communities.

As a former professor and dean, he understands education not as a talking point, but as a living system. One that must align curriculum, accountability, workforce readiness, and opportunity if Alabama is going to compete and prosper. He knows that education is economic development.

As a trained engineer, he understands how systems work or do not work. Infrastructure, manufacturing, technology, efficiency, and innovation are not abstract ideas to him. They are the disciplines he has lived in. He knows how to connect education to industry and industry to jobs that keep people rooted right here at home.

As a leader who has worked inside prison systems, mental health care, and community solutions, Dr. Boyd understands public safety in its full context. Not just punishment after harm, but prevention before it happens. As a licensed therapist, pastor, and educator, he has spent his life working upstream. Strengthening families, addressing trauma, treating addiction, and expanding opportunity so fewer people ever reach crisis in the first place.

As an author, he understands the criticality of information in our libraries. As a licensed clinical therapist, he sees and hears us, and he knows how to mediate between us. With three doctorates, what sets him apart most is not ideology, but orientation. Dr. Boyd builds. He connects. He leads across difference. Rural and urban. Faith and civic. Education and industry. He brings people together around shared goals rather than dividing them into camps.

He is not beholden to political machines or past eras. He is an outsider whose leadership was forged in real institutions solving real problems. At this moment in Alabama’s history, that matters.

At fifty-four, Dr. Will Boyd brings both experience and urgency. Wisdom is earned. Energy intact. A forward-looking vision focused on the next generation, not the last one.

At his core, Dr. Boyd’s life work has been about educating, engineering, healing, and building. Preventing failure rather than managing it after the fact. That is the kind of leadership Alabama needs now.

I believe deeply in fair debate, open elections, and letting the people decide. Face to face. Question by question. Vote by vote. But that process begins with respect. It begins by allowing qualified leaders to be seen, heard, and judged on their merits.  I would respectfully ask the media to allow their readers to get to know one of their options by allowing his messaging to reach the public without oppression, if that is possible. 

Dr. Will Boyd is qualified. He is prepared. He is worthy of your consideration.

If you will let him.

#AlabamaCanAlabamaWILL

Lisa Ward is a former Democratic nominee for the Alabama State Senate, a political leader and advocate with more than three decades of experience advancing justice, equity, and community empowerment. She is known for grassroots organizing and coalition-building across the State, and is committed to policy solutions that uplift marginalized communities and strengthen democracy. She currently serves as a senior advisor to the Will Boyd for Alabama campaign.

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