Adjoa Asamoah (Dr. Adjoa B. Asamoah)

Dr. Adjoa B. Asamoah is an accomplished executive, policy architect, equity czar, leading purveyor of progress, and internationally sought-after political power player who has worked across industries and sectors over three decades. An award-winning social impact strategist and history-making policy architect, she is known globally as “The CROWN Act Champion”. She 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 changed in 24 states. An unrivaled legislative record, she also spearheaded the victory to codify the first Office of African American Affairs.

An adjunct professor who has taught African American Studies and psychology, Asamoah leverages cultural intelligence and behavioral insights to create winning campaigns and sustainable systems change, and master consumer behavior. A veteran educator and expert corporate consultant, Asamoah has coached Fortune 500 executives to understand race, risk management, and profit, in addition to corporate social responsibility and the business case for doing what’s right.

A longtime trusted advisor to senior local, state, and federal officials, Asamoah currently serves in yet another historic capacity as the first Senior Advisor for Racial Equity to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary and the only Black woman to ever hold the Executive Vice President equivalent title in the federal government. She served as the senior policy advisor in the District of Columbia’s Executive Office of the Mayor, and she is faculty at the Congressional Black Caucus Institute where she teaches civics, campaign mechanics, and public policymaking.

She provides subject matter expertise as an appointee to numerous boards, commissions, and committees, and for notable entities including the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA); Temple University; Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated; DC Commission for Women; DC Commission on African American Affairs; and The National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Incorporated. She has been appointed by multiple superintendents to the District of Columbia’s federally-mandated State Title I Committee of Practitioners, and has been elected chair for eight consecutive years.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree 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. She’s earned professional licenses including one as a behavior specialist and another as a psychometrist. She was an international student and studied abroad at the University of Ghana. She completed the UPENN Equity Institute for Doctoral Students at the Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Education, and she earned her Doctor of Education degree in Education Leadership: Administration & Policy Studies at The George Washington University with a groundbreaking dissertation that critically examined the implementation of the CROWN Act and lawmakers’ motivation to sponsor it.

Having worked as an appointed senior advisor with the likes of (now) President Biden, Vice President Harris, a U.S. Secretary, mayors, and more members of Congress and state legislators than one can count, Dr. Asamoah’s social and political capital as well as her behind-the-scenes impact on American politics, policy, and culture can never truly be quantified.

Voted the 2023 “Advocate of the Year” by the Women in Government Relations, her record of national policy wins is unmatched. She has been deemed 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 Magazine in 2021 for her social impact work. She also graced the “special edition” cover of the iconic magazine. She also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the NAACP. She served as a reoccurring radio show co-host on Sirius XM, is a published author, and as an internationally celebrated culture keeper, hosts events for institutions like BET.