Our History

The AAKOMA Project was founded by Dr. Alfiee M. Breland-Noble based on her academic research labs at Duke and Georgetown Universities.

Dr. Alfiee founded AAKOMA in 1999 as a academic research lab and incorporated it as a 501(c)(3) in 2019. We grew quickly into a dynamic non-profit fighting to secure the mental health of Youth and Young Adults of Color. AAKOMA exists at the intersection of critical challenges facing our world today: racial and social injustice, youth well-being, and mental health. AAKOMA is an acronym (African American Knowledge Optimized for Mindfully Healthy Adolescents) and comes from the word “akoma” from the Asante of present-day Ghana. The literal meaning of the akoma symbol is “the heart” and it represents love, unity, endurance, patience, goodwill and faithfulness.