Meet Councilwoman Kyonzte Toombs

I came to Nashville in the Fall of 1997 to enroll as a freshman at Vanderbilt University on a full tuition scholarship. I stayed to attend law school. Short of a brief move to Atlanta to obtain an MBA from Emory University in 2008, since 1997 I have lived, worked, and/or attended school in Nashville. Nashville is my home, and I live here with my husband of nine years and our four children.

In 2015, my husband and I decided to move to the Haynes-Trinity area in District 2. I was attracted to the rich history of the North Nashville/Bordeaux area. I work in MetroCenter. My youngest two children were born in Nashville General Hospital. My family conducts a good bit of our business, from healthcare services to dining out, in North Nashville.

As I’ve witnessed the increasing gentrification in Nashville, I knew that the rich history of North Nashville was at risk. I wanted to be a part of the conversation, strategy, and action that would preserve its historic neighborhoods and help North Nashville move forward.

In May 2016, my husband and I purchased our home in Chateau Valley in District 2. Over the past several years, I have been actively involved in the community through my work as a founding board member of The Equity Alliance, an organization that has spent a significant amount of time educating community members on the importance of voting and how to use one's vote as a weapon for social justice.

I am Past-President of the Napier-Looby Bar Association, a predominately African-American association of attorneys dedicated to increasing the number of African-Americans in the legal profession, supporting currently licensed attorneys, and ensuring equity in the African-American community. My children attend an MNPS school where I am the president of the PTA, which works to provide both financial and volunteer support to the teachers and staff in order to enrich the learning experience of the students.

I have been serving Middle Tennessee since I was a college student at Vanderbilt actively engaged in a service fraternity, serving as a Big Buddy as part of Big Brothers Big Sisters, and creating, implementing, and leading service projects as a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

My ability to lead has been recognized through multiple awards, recognitions, and elections to the boards of multiple organizations including Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the Tennessee Lawyers Association for Women, the Lawyers Association for Women (Marion Griffin Chapter), the Nashville Bar Association, the Equity Alliance, the Equity Alliance Fund, Rosebank Elementary PTA, Nashville Emerging Leaders, and the Tennessee Bar Association Leadership Law Program (TBALL).

With 15 years of practice experience as an attorney, which includes experience advocating to and advising government officials, I am a public servant who is skilled at collaboration and building consensus. I will listen to my constituents in order to identify the issues, and I will collaborate with community members to build consensus around solutions to those issues.

I know that some of the issues that are important to the District 2 community include being overcome by poorly-planned development that leads to the displacement of current residents,the d estruction of our historical neighborhoods, lack of affordable housing, low lying areas that easily flood, underfunded schools, crumbling infrastructure, and lack of convenient and affordable retail and dining. I pledge to collaborate with residents, developers, and fellow government officials to develop creative solutions to preserve and revitalize our neighborhoods.

District 2 is my home.  My husband and I are raising our children here. I believe in our community. I believe that District 2 can prosper with its current residents while welcoming new residents. I believe in our collective ability to create solutions that address our community’s concerns. I am so grateful to serve as your District 2 councilwoman.