G. Kwame Scruggs has over 20 years of experience using myth in the development of urban male youth. He holds a Ph.D. and MA in Mythological Studies with an emphasis in Jungian Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, California. Kwame also holds a MS degree in Technical Education with an emphasis in Guidance and Counseling from the University of Akron where he also completed all coursework for a Masters degree in Community Counseling.

He has conducted numerous workshops on the use of myth to engage urban youth, presenting at C.G. Jung sites of New York, Cleveland, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia. In 1993, after being formally initiated into the Akan System of Life Cycle Development (African-based rites of passage), Kwame became a Certified Facilitator of this process.

Kwame is the founder and program/training director of Alchemy, a non-profit organization in Akron, Ohio established in 2003. Alchemy creates a safe environment for the development of urban adolescent males through the telling, discussion and analysis of mythological stories and fairy tales.

In 2013 Kwame was presented with the first Wendy Davee Award for Service from The Pacifica Graduate Institute Office of Alumni Relations and the Alumni Association, which honored him for his many activities and achievements that embody Pacifica’s mission to “Tend the Souls of the World.” In 2016 he was one of three recipients presented with the University of Akron’s Black Male Summit Legacy Award.

Kwame is a member of the National Guild for Community Arts Education and was selected for the 2014 class of CAELI (Community Arts Education Leadership Institute).