Kwesi Brookins

Michigan State University

https://engage.msu.edu

Biographical Abstracts

Kwesi Brookins is vice provost for University Outreach and Engagement and a professor of ecological-community psychology at Michigan State University (MSU). He received his doctorate from MSU and began his current position in January 2023.

Brookins is a former professor of psychology and Africana studies at NC State University. While at NC State, he founded the Africana Studies Program and established several education programs abroad and linkage programs in Africa. Brookins also served as director of the Center for Family and Community Engagement and vice provost for University Outreach and Engagement at NC State.

Brookins' research is centered on Black communities and partners across the states of North Carolina and Michigan. He led a community-university partnership with historically Black communities in SE Raleigh focused on mitigating the impact of gentrification and cultural erasure. He has published on community-based interventions, African American identity development, an African-centered worldview, and sociopolitical and critical consciousness.

With a focus on building intentional and reciprocal community partnerships, Brookins is leading MSU’s institutional anchor and engagement strategy in the Lansing, Michigan, region. Brookins was an American Council of Education Fellow (2018-19) and the 2023-24 president of the Society for Community Research and Action, Division 27, of the American Psychological Association.

Areas of Expertise

• Community-based participatory action research
• Community-university partnerships
• Youth-based interventions
• Sociopolitical consciousness
• African-centered worldview