Dr. Adjoa B. Asamoah, architect of the CROWN Act, will keynote the St. Louis City NAACP 112th Anniversary Celebration and Annual Freedom Fund Dinner at 6 p.m. Saturday February 17, 2024 – at the Marriott Grand Hotel.
Asamoah conceptualized, developed the national legislative and coalition-building strategies for, and leads the unparalleled CROWN Act movement to outlaw race-based hair discrimination, resulting in laws changing in 23 states and more than 50 cities.
“In 2018, I came up with the idea that policy change was the best way to tackle this very long standing and problematic practice of race-based hair discrimination,” she said last week in a “Her Agenda” interview.
“Part of my strategy has been about coalition building, so I also co-created what’s called the CROWN Coalition, an alliance [of organizations] that is dedicated to outlawing race-based hair discrimination. That movement is important to me.”
Asamoah said waiting to act often dooms well-intentioned initiatives.
“You don’t have to have a lot of money, or a fancy title, or be of a certain age, or a certain race, to be able to spark change,” she said.
“You, as an individual, can spark change. You have to determine your why, assess the problem and accept the challenge. Many people see a problem and they don’t accept the challenge. They know it’s a problem and they know something needs to be done but they don’t do anything, and they wait for the next person to do it. Don’t wait for somebody else to do it. We’re waiting for you to do it.”
Along with the CROWN Act, Asamoah was instrumental in codifying the first Office of African American Affairs and serves as the Biden-Harris Campaign’s National Advisor for Black Engagement.
In addition, she is the first senior advisor for racial equity to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia Fudge – the only Black woman to ever hold the title in the federal government.
She provides subject matter expertise as an appointee to numerous commissions, committees, and advisory boards for notable entities including Temple University’s Board of Visitors, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Advisory Committee, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.’s National Social Action Commission, DC Commission on African American Affairs, DC Commission for Women, and The National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc.’s National Public Policy Committee.
She chaired the Democratic National Committee’s African American Leadership Council for several years, and she is faculty at the Congressional Black Caucus Institute.
Asamoah was named one of the 100 most influential Black Americans by The Root in 2023, one of the most powerful women in the world by Marie Claire Magazine in 2022, and one of the 100 most powerful people globally by EBONY in 2021 for her social justice.
She holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in both psychology and African American Studies. She earned a master’s degree in educational psychology, and a post-master’s certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis. She also completed a specialized series of graduate courses in cognitive behavior therapy at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
“My why never changes, but my how continues to change,” she explains when speaking of her various roles.
“When people ask, ‘What are you going to do?’ – I don’t know yet. I will always work to create the society that I want to live in. It certainly has not been profitable to be this scholar-strategist-activist but there’s no divorcing me from my why. I won’t take on a role unless it’s in alignment with my ‘why.’”
