Kweisi Mfume was born, raised and educated in Baltimore and it was there that he followed
his dreams to impact society and shape a more humane public policy. He graduated from
Morgan State University and later returned there as an adjunct professor, teaching
courses in Political Science and Communications. In 1984, he earned a Master's Degree
in Liberal Arts and a concentration in International Studies.
By the age of 31, Mfume had won his first election to the Baltimore City Council. During his seven years of service, he led the efforts to diversify city government, improve community safety, enhance business development and divest city funds from the then-apartheid government of South Africa.
In 1986, he was elected to the U.S. Congress, a seat that he was to hold for the next decade. Mfume was active with a broad array of committe obligations and consistently advocated landmark minority business and civil rights legislation. He successfull co-sponsored and helped to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act, strengthened the Equal Credit Opportunity Law and co-authored and successfully amended the Civil Rights Bill of 1991. He also sponsored legislative initiatives banning assault weapons and establishing stalking as a federal crime. Mfume has served as Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Caucus' Chair of the Task Force on Affirmative Action and was appointed by the House Democratic Causcus as Vice-Chairman for Communications.
Mfume left his congressional seat to become President and CEO of the Naitonal Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in February of 1996. During his nine years of service, he raised the national profile of the NAACP while helping to resotre its prominence among the nation's civil rights organizations. He is widely credited with helping to raise more than $100 million dollars in outside contributions for the organization while at the same time creating its national Corporate Diversity Project and establishing 75 new college-based chapters. He also helped secure the NAACP's official United Nations Status as a Non-Governmental Organization.
Mfume served as a nation surrogate speaker for the "Obama for America" Presidential campaign in 2008. He recently served as interim Executive Director of the National Medical Association to help oversee the positioning of the nation's oldest African American Medical Association and its physicians in preparation for the implementation of the 2010 Affordable Health Care Act.
Mfume sits on the National Advisory Council on Minority Health and Health Disparities at the National Institute's of Health. He serves on the Morgan State University Board of Regents, the National Advisory Council of Boy Scouts of America, the American Society of Association Executives and the Association of Former Members of Congress. He is a member of Gamma Boulé Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity and the Order of the Prince Hall Masons.
Mfume recently completed 12 years of service on the John Hopkins University Board of Trustees and was formerly a member of several boards and organizations including: the Board of Visitors of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, People for the American Way, the Meyerhof Scholars Advisory Board of th University of Maryland, the Senior Advisory Committe of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, the African American Advisory Board of PepsiCo, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Maryland and the Continuity of Government Commission.
For the last 12 years Mfume has lectured across the nation. He also has an extensive background in broadcasting that includes 13 years in radio, including hosting the nationally syndicated and NBC/Hearst TV special "The Remarkable Journey." He is the recipient of the NAACP Image Award and the 2005 Telly Award for the television documentary "Ticket to Freedom." Mfume is the recipient of ten honorary doctorate degrees and hundreds of other awards, proclamations, and citations. His best-selling autobiography is entitled, "No Free Ride."