Creating a Shift in the Communities, One Step at a Time
Temple University student, Andrew Ankamah has a passion for his community, the youth, and creating positive change in communities everywhere.
By Jocelyn Hockaday
Andrew Ankamah speaks at an event on the importance of voting in this coming midterm election. | Photo source: Andrew Ankamah
Andrew Ankamah, a senior Political Science Major and minor in Africology and African American Studies at Temple University, saw there were ongoing issues in local communities and a change was needed.
“Everyone has the power to get involved. Community work looks different for everybody,” Andrew said. “Some people march, some make informational tiktoks on certain topics. Activism looks differently for everyone and we should all support each other in our collective effort to advance the movement.”
Therefore, Andrew founded The Accountability Initiative and works diligently in other areas to create this change.
Andrew was born in Philadelphia, but grew up in North Brunswick, New Jersey, where he began giving back to the community when he became class president of his high school. Soon after, The Accountability Initiative was founded.
“I originally started this organization as a way to combat unaddressed incidents that were occurring in my local school district,” said Andrew.
The Accountability Initiative is an organization that was founded in July 2020. The organization consists of young activities advocating on behalf of underrepresented communities and works on finding solutions to issues that persist within them.
“The organization started as only a project in phases,” said Andrew. “However the results were so positive so we went ahead and made it an organization”.
Phase one is the community outreach. Phase two is a community survey that Andrew and his team sent out to students and community members to write down their experiences and get more opinions on the issues in the community. Lastly, phase three is meeting with higher officials such as the board of education to address these issues and discuss possible solutions.
Andrew and his team are currently working with the organization's educating committee to get a group of students to mentor students at local high schools on college life.
The second project The Accountability Initiative is working on is The One Hundred Stories Campaign.
“Our goal is to get 100 stories of who have indirectly or directly experienced gun violence,” Andrew said. “The purpose is to raise awareness and severity of gun violence in communities. Then, bring these stories to elective officials and leaders.”
As of October 2022, The Accountability Initiative has an official chapter as an organization at Temple university. In the Spring semester 2023, it will begin its first time as a recognized organization.
“I hope it stands as a way of bridging the gap between the communities. I want future students to be aware of their impact in the surrounding community and realize that they are a part of the community too,” Andrew said.
Andrew hopes the future of The Accountability Initiative is to create more collegiate chapters around the country and build a network of student activists that are dedicated to fighting injustice in their local communities.
Additionally he is one of several Youth Commissioners for the Office of Youth Engagement where he has been a part of since 2020, but officially a member since January 2022.
As a Youth Commissioner, Andrew recently has been working on encouraging the youth to vote through their voting campaign.
His favorite part about his role as a Youth Commissioner is having the opportunity to make connections with city leaders.
“Oftentimes youth would have a voice in something, but there’s no one that can make the decisions in that space,” Andrew said. “Here I am able to share my thoughts, opinions, and experiences and the people in the room are able to put that to action.”
Lastly, he works at Presenting Our Perspectives on Philly Youth News or “POPPYN” where he has been a college mentor since March 2022.
“The students, they're funny. It's never a dull moment and a great work environment,” Andrew said. “When people think of Philly kids they think of them as bad or being involved in violence but that's not it.”
His responsibilities include helping facilitate presentations and conversations in social issues in high schools all over the city, and help students create content in various media platforms.
“Living here is a testament of strength and those kids are passionate and dedicated to their future. They're the ones that are going to be leading our city,” Andrew said.
Outside of his work with the community and youth, Andrew is a member of Temple’s Chapter of S.M.O.O.T.H. (Strong Men Overcoming Obstacles Through Hard Work). He was the secretary, but has stepped down to focus on his organization. Currently he is a general member where he attends meetings and events with his fellow S.M.O.O.T.H. brothers.
With graduation coming around the corner, Andrew has a feeling bitter sweet, especially with the end coming so fast in part due of COVID-19.
“I want to leave here better than I found it. I saw the city I was born in was hurting, and that hurt me”, Andrew said. “I wanted to do something about it. It's my goal to positively impact as many people as possible.”
