Akwasi Agyeman is a Crown Heights native who has spent his career working to make New York City more equitable, engaged, and responsive to the people who call it home.

Born in Ghana and raised in Brooklyn, Akwasi grew up steps from where he still lives today. He attended PS 241 Emma L. Johnson and Medgar Evers College Preparatory Academy.

Akwasi earned his BA in Black Studies from Middlebury College as a Posse Foundation Scholar, then returned home to put that education to work — not in pursuit of personal gain, but in service of his community. He has worked with young people on issues of food security, education equity, housing, and economic mobility. He served as chairperson of the Young Adult Committee of the Brooklyn NAACP, and built relationships with neighbors across Crown Heights, Fort Greene, and beyond through programs like BK Roots.

Today, Akwasi works as a Community Projects Manager with AmeriCorps at the NYC Civic Engagement Commission, helping run The People’s Money — the city's participatory budgeting process — so that everyday New Yorkers have a real say in how public funds are spent. He is completing his Master of Public Administration at the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs, where he was awarded the Hearst Fellowship for Nonprofit Management.

Akwasi believes that change starts close to home — and that the next generation deserves leaders who never forgot where they came from.