Meet Keenon
A native Prince Georgian, Keenon was raised in a working class family in Fort Washington where he attended neighborhood Rose Valley Elementary School and the former Lord Baltimore Middle School (now Isaac J. Gourdine). After graduating from Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, Keenon continued his family's legacy of attending a historically black college, North Carolina Central University (NCCU).
During his years at NCCU, Keenon was an active student-leader serving as the co-chair of the Political Action Committee for the campus' chapter of the NAACP, Director of Public Relations for the Student Government Association, cadet captain in the Duke-NCCU Army Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) detachment, and Polemarch (president) of the North Carolina Central University chapter, the Alpha Kappa, of Kappa Alpha Psi. He embraced Durham as a second home giving back to the "Bull City" community with passion.
Keenon embarked on a career dedicated to public service working for the federal government and nonprofit organizations to directly impact communities across the country. First in North Carolina and then state legislatures across the country, Keenon joined a team of researchers, practitioners, and policy experts to draft and implement innovative criminal justice reform legislation in nearly a dozen states, including Maryland, with the national Justice Reinvestment Initiative. He would lead a team with the Collaborative Reform Initiative at the United States Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) on the ground in cities like San Francisco, California; Ferguson, Missouri; and St. Anthony, Minnesota, following high profile police shooting incidents. Keenon has been at the center of hard-hitting policing practice assessments that led to major policy revisions, community oversight, agency culture shifts, and statewide legislation to reform policing. Keenon has been working tirelessly to build safer communities, impart an equitable and fair criminal justice system, and collaborating with local organizations to address systemic racism in housing, education, and public safety. Most recently, he lead policing reform and federal policy change efforts with the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE).
His passion and commitment to effecting lives of those impacted by violent crime is personal. Keenon is a gun violence survivor. His brother, Sean, was shot and killed in Prince George's County in 1993. As a gun violence survivor, he works hand-in-hand with survivors advocating for safer neighborhoods, victims' rights, sensible gun laws, and gun violence prevention solutions as the Senior Director of the Everytown Survivor Network.
In addition to being a national leader in criminal justice reform and public safety policy, Keenon is actively involved in local policing reform. Keenon is a past member of the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office Citizen Advisory Board and a current member of the Prince George's County Police Accountability Board. His community policing experience, civic engagement, and commitment to restoring trust and transparency in public safety has been the catalyst of agency policy and culture changes. He also offers his time and talent supporting neighborhood schools as a leader with the parent-teacher organization at his daughters' school, volunteering for his homeowners association, and the five time marathon runner leads the local chapter of Black Men Run encouraging healthy living and active lifestyles for men in our community. Public service is at his core and he continuously offers his time and resources to support our community. From the Family Justice Center to veterans' services, school programs, and vocational training, Keenon is working to build a better community with the goal of making Prince George's County a national model of cooperative community success.
Keenon is a member of several community, philanthropic, and service organizations including the Board of Visitors for Elizabeth City State University, Kappa Youth Development, Incorporated, Upper Marlboro/ Waldorf (MD) Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated, The AK Foundation, Prince Hall Free Masons, and Bachelor-Benedict Club. Keenon and his wife, Raneene, reside in Upper Marlboro with their daughters.
*Organizational affiliation, job titles, and photographs provided for identification purposes only and not an indication of organizational support or endorsement.
