Akilah Browne comes to FurtherJustice with a background in and passion for community lawyering, affordable housing policy and community wealth-building – all in service of achieving racial justice and helping to build liberated Black and Brown communities.
Prior to co-founding FurtherJustice, Akilah was a Skadden Legal Fellow at New Economy Project, where she provided policy and legal assistance to NYC nonprofits working to develop community land trusts (CLTs): a tool for creating permanently affordable housing, combating displacement, and fostering participatory decision-making over neighborhood development. Akilah previously worked at Cleary Gottlieb where she managed the firm’s pro bono program, which served hundreds of low-income people and nonprofit organizations annually.
Akilah received a J.D., cum laude, from Fordham University School of Law and a B.A., summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, in Media Studies from Hobart and William Smith Colleges. While in law school, Akilah was active in Fordham Law’s Community Economic Development Clinic, where she led student teams in advising organizations as they structured nonprofit CLTs, negotiated community benefits agreements and formed tax-exempt entities. Akilah is an adjunct professor at the City College of New York, where she designs and teaches courses focused on housing justice and community control.
Akilah has been recognized as a Women inPower Fellow by the 92nd Street Y Belfer Center for Innovation and Social Impact and honored as one of Fordham Law School’s 2023 Rising Stars. She is also a proud Board member of New Economy Project, the Mott Haven Port Morris Community Land Stewards, and her housing cooperative in the South Bronx.