Never idle, Ayo Maat, Ph.D., a native Chicagoan, has always  balanced work or business with community involvement and spirituality.  Dr. Maat is a local and national community activist, educator, and organizer who lives in West Ridge. She is a visual artist and writer/editor.  She  lived in Rogers Park 30 years, formerly lived in Uptown and Edgewater after leaving downtown and the southside.  She is the founder, former President/CEO of BNICEH (‘be nicer,”), the Black Network In Children’s Emotional Health in 1992 and IMPRUVE (Independent Movement of Paratransit Riders for Unity, Vehicles, Equality), in 2000.  She graduated with a Ph.D in philosophy and Master of Science in Healing from University of Healing and a journalism and art degree with minors in accounting and studies in social science from two stints at  Truman College where she also worked as a tutor in social science and English.   She attended Illinois Institute of Technology for computer science and math and took business management training with various corporations and the Entrepreneurship Training Program with Uptown Hull House.  She is a person who is disabled (PWD), uses a wheelchair, eats organic vegan food (mostly raw), grows an urban organic vegetable garden, rides paratransit, makes handmade jewelry one-of-a-kind, and supports green employment for PWDs, youth, seniors who desire encore careers, those who have been incarcerated,  and those who live at low income.  As a person who has lived in Chicago 7 decades, her experience is wide from south, west to northside:  former Chicago City Colleges and Eduteach  teacher, former acting chair of Chicago Together for Chicago Department of Public Health, a computer professional who was the first and only female to head the Systems Programmers Society, retired minister, artist/writer, and presented or ran special programs at NorthPoint, Ibeji Resource Center, Probation Challenge, United Church of Rogers Park, Truman College,  New Concept School,  Austin Library, Evanston Library,  and Insight Arts.  She taught at Malcolm X College, Central YMCA College, Control Data Institute and Eduteach, and was a certified IL substitute teacher.  She co-led family literacy programs for Rogers Park Library; had successful ATOD (Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs) prevention programs that included Project SmokeOut in 7 neighborhoods,  ”No Butts, No Booze” back to school music fests in what is now Willye White Park.  Her most successful community work was producing and hosting the first and only Black Mental Health Forum at MOPD (Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities) in Feb. 1993, working with youth to deter them from shoplifting and gangs at Loyola Park, and running a  smoking cessation public service campaign that culminated in a videodocumentary and in 2006 with posters and billboards posted on CTA trains and buses for one year, funded by Illinois and Chicago Departments of Public Health.