Queenstar Akrong

Queenstar Akrong is a mission-oriented storyteller and strategist with a track record of supporting the nation’s most impactful businesses and nonprofits in building multimedia programming and social impact initiatives targeted toward underrepresented audiences.

Over the past decade, she has led the development, creation, and facilitation of nearly 100 in-person and multimedia events and on-camera interviews. She has also been an on-camera host and facilitator of initiatives for technology companies, government agencies, and global companies. In early 2024, she served as the founding host of the For Your Health News Podcast in partnership with the White House Cancer Moonshot Initiative and the National Minority Quality Forum.

Currently, she serves as Director, Neighborhood Strategy (Maryland), National Impact Team at Harlem Children's Zone. Previously, she was a Senior Director at Whiteboard Advisors, where she regularly works with governors’ offices and state departments of education on strategic efforts, including increasing equitable pathways to college and workforce opportunities for underrepresented students. She also led the creation of Queen’s Court, a video interview series highlighting change-makers working at the crossroads of learning and economic mobility. Her interviews include Hip Hop legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, Time 100 Honoree Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, former DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson, and a host of others.

Before Whiteboard, Akrong spearheaded initiatives at The College Board, including being a founding member and on-camera host for Real Talk, the largest virtual college exploration program series created for black students, which reached over 50,000 students globally during the pandemic. Additionally, she led the College Board's partnership with NBCUniversal on a joint public campaign to guide Spanish-speaking families through the college planning process. As Associate Director of Teacher Outreach & Advocacy, she increased the growth of the AP Advocates program from 150 teachers to over 10,000 teachers and students in two years to advocate for underrepresented students' access to advanced coursework. She began her career on Capitol Hill as a Running Start Fellow with Rep Suzanne Bonamaci (D-OR) and served as a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Fellow in the office of former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.

In her spare time, Akrong is a social impact entrepreneur and the founder of No Debt Degree, an online advising platform that provides college-affordability advice and workshops to students and families to decrease student loan debt. She's also the founder of Queenstar Media, a digital media and community-based platform amplifying the work of global leaders in Education, Health, and Technology. Outside of her endeavors, she enjoys facilitating race and equity conversations through her 8-year partnership with Factuality the Game and inspiring young women to run for political office through the Running Start ElectHer program.

Akrong was selected as a 2016 Center for American Progress Leadership Institute Fellow and 2024 Aspen Ideas Festival Fellow and Speaker. She holds a BA in Political Science and International Affairs from Notre Dame of Maryland University and a Master’s in Education Entrepreneurship from the University of Pennsylvania.