Dr. G. Kwame Scruggs has over twenty years of experience using myth in the development of urban male youth.  He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Mythological Studies with an Emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, California.  Dr. Scruggs also holds an M.S. degree in Technical Education with an Emphasis in Guidance and Counseling from the University of Akron. In 1993, after being formally initiated into the Akan System of Life Cycle Development (African-based rites of passage), Dr. Scruggs became a Certified Facilitator of this process.

Dr. Scruggs is the founder and director of Alchemy, Inc., a non-profit organization in Akron, Ohio, established in 2003.  Alchemy uses mythological stories to engage urban adolescent males.  In 2012 Alchemy was one of twelve programs to receive the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award from the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities – the nation’s highest honor for after-school and out-of-school programs. Alchemy was the backdrop for the award-winning, feature-length documentary, Finding the Gold Within.

Dr. Scruggs also serves as a board member for the Joseph Campbell Foundation.