Akuyoe Graham is founder and CEO of Spirit Awakening Foundation, an organization she built to provide trauma-informed programs and services for children and young adults. With 27 years of experience in the field, she has become known as an innovative leader who founded the organization on principles of diversity, inclusivity, and meditative practice.
Graham's leadership model centers on "we before me," built around values she names directly: compassion, generosity, forgiveness, authenticity, joy, beauty, integrity, dignity, strength, and love. She was an early advocate for bringing yoga and meditation into educational settings at a time when the idea faced real resistance, and her healing-arts approach has since influenced efforts to reform parts of the youth criminal justice system.
She has made a point of developing internal talent, including a chief operating officer who rose from an assistant role without prior C-suite experience. Graham is now producing and directing a film about Spirit Awakening's work, intended to build global healing circles for women, and plans to open Spirit Home, a residential mentorship facility for vulnerable young women, in 2023.
