2025 Outstanding Student Achievement Award: Master’s Community Service Category
Marine Chido Nimblette
Master of Science in Medical Sciences (MAMS) Program
Nimblette is a member of the MS in Medical Sciences graduating class of 2025. Since 2024, she has served as one of 38 mayor-appointed members of the SPARK Boston Council, where she advises Boston Mayor Michelle Wu on programs and policies that affect 20- to 35-year-olds across the city.
As council members, Nimblette and her cohort each represent a Boston neighborhood. Nimblette represents the Fenway/Kenmore area, where she helps set policy priorities, address city issues, plan for Boston’s future and increase civic engagement. She also meets monthly with city cabinet members and facilitates community service projects both in her representative neighborhood and across Boston.
Two projects stand out to Nimblette as memorable experiences. In February 2025, Nimblette designed and implemented a Black History Month campaign to encourage Bostonians to shop at local, Black-owned businesses across the city.
The campaign encouraged residents to have conversations about supporting Black-owned businesses, to network and to “celebrate culture in a tangible way,” according to Nimblette. It culminated in a celebration at The Mix, a Black-owned restaurant in Dorchester, where Nimblette and her fellow SPARK members honored individuals who participated in the campaign.
“I truly love hosting in-person gatherings – it’s such a joy to witness people coming together and forming new connections around a shared purpose,” Nimblette said. “Seeing the community engage with one another in that space filled my heart with happiness.”
This project was meaningful for Nimblette, the proud daughter of immigrant parents from Grenada and Zimbabwe who run their own family business. She credits her parents for instilling in her the drive toward community service.
“Growing up within a small, family-owned business gave me a deep understanding of the unique challenges that Black business owners face every day,” Nimblette said. “These early experiences shaped my perspective and drive. No matter where I am, I make it a priority to dedicate my personal time to support and uplift Black entrepreneurs and help ease some of those everyday stressors.”
In 2024, Nimblette also worked on several events encouraging Gen-Z Bostonians to register to vote during the United States presidential election campaign. Throughout this initiative, Nimblette and her team hosted voter registration events at the Museum of Fine Arts and several community roundtables with SPARK members.
“I enjoyed seeing firsthand how accessible and joyful civic engagement can be when young people are invited into the process in creative ways,” Nimblette said. Each project, according to Nimblette, has helped young people create meaningful connections and feel empowered as community members.
Nimblette looks forward to continuing her work with the SPARK Council and taking the lessons she has learned into future community service projects.
“I plan to continue using both my personal time and my role on SPARK Boston to uplift local communities, especially by advocating for civic participation and highlighting Black entrepreneurs,” Nimblette said. “I’m particularly passionate about initiatives that blend health education, policy, and entrepreneurship.”
In the meantime, Nimblette is busy planning her next project: a Mental Health Awareness Month campaign connecting Gen-Z residents with local Black business owners in the mental health space.
“Overall, I’m just grateful to be able to help create spaces where people feel seen and supported.”