Stanley and Roxia Boykin are pictured at the Summa Health Equity Center near a plaque recognizing their generosity. A second plaque hangs at the Summa Health Pride Clinic at 1260 Independence Avenue, Akron.
Roxia and Stanley Boykin:
Making an impact for all
This story originally appeared in the Fall 2023 edition of Promise magazine.
Roxia Boykin and her husband, Stanley, recently gave an extraordinary gift to Summa Health in honor of the Summa Health Equity Center and the Summa Health Pride Clinic. Their generosity continues a long history of support and reflects the exceptional dedication of this couple to the health of residents in Akron and Portage County, where the couple lives.
Roxia, now retired, served as a top Summa Health executive focused on community relations, community reinvestment and diversity.
The Boykins believe that Summa Health has always tried to address real issues that exist in the greater Akron community with compassion and respect—and a level of quality that can’t be questioned.
In reflecting on her and Stanley’s motivation for supporting Summa Health, Roxia said it goes back to a passion for helping vulnerable populations and their childhood experiences and upbringing.
Growing up in Franklin, Pennsylvania, Roxia was one of seven children. “Neither of my parents was college educated. They were laborers who worked extremely hard. One or the other was always working two jobs just to give us what we needed and, hopefully, a little of what we wanted.”
“Even though my mom and dad did not have a lot financially or materially, they were always generous with what they did have,” she added.
Advancing through a notable career that began in what was then the School of Nursing at Kent State University, Roxia worked at Summa Health from 2007 until she retired in 2014 as the vice president of Community Benefit and Diversity.
“While I worked at Summa Health,” said Roxia, “we built the Health Equity Center from the ground up. Understanding health equity and disparity as more than ‘trending’ catchphrases, and seeing how the center made and continues to make a difference, is what led my husband and me to support it professionally and personally.”
Roxia also served on Summa Health’s diversity advisory council. Her fellow members were thought leaders who began to conceptualize and bring to reality the Summa Health Pride Clinic. Today, it provides a broad spectrum of specialized healthcare services to the LGBTQ+ community.
Earlier in her career, when Roxia worked as an oncology nurse, she learned about the obstacles many women face in receiving mammograms and recognized the differences in knowledge and access to care. That prompted her to now support Summa Screens, a program that provides free mammograms to low-income or uninsured women.
“We have a passion for all of these areas,” said Roxia. “That is what draws us to the focus of our philanthropy. We ask – where can there be the greatest impact?”
While she acknowledges that it may sound trite, Roxia truly believes that to whom much is given, much is expected. “I know that we have been abundantly blessed and we hope to make a difference in the lives of others.”
For more information about supporting Summa Health, please contact Summa Foundation at 330.375.3159 or foundation@summahealth.org.