A civic entrepreneur, Dr. Kelechi Lawrence championed the formation of Delaware Africa Coalition, Inc. (DAC), in 2015 following a series of events in the African community, including the death of a prominent psychiatrist, and a meeting with one of Senator Coons’ staffers sent by him to explore ways the Senator could best serve the needs of the African community in Delaware.

DAC was envisioned as an organization that would advocate for all people of African descent (continental Africans, African Americans and Caribbean Americans) in the State of Delaware. He also originated and introduced the idea of an African Commission in Delaware based on the model in Philadelphia, i.e. Mayor’s Commission on African and Caribbean Affairs, an effort that provided the very framework for the creation of Delaware African and Caribbean Affairs Commission (DACAC).

Dr. Lawrence is the founding president of Delaware Africa Coalition, and as an active community advocate, he serves on the boards of many community and nonprofit organizations. He was recently appointed by Governor John Carney to the Delaware African and Caribbean Affairs Commission, and has received many civic honors, including from then Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Governor Ruth Ann Minner, and Mayor James Baker. He also served on the transition team of Governor John Carney. In November 2017, he received an award for innovation at the Winter Awards Dinner of the African and Caribbean Business Council (Philadelphia). He is the vice chair of Delaware Community Benefits Agreement Coalition, Inc., an organization working to implement a community benefits agreement for the proposed port of Wilmington expansion project.

Dr. Lawrence has led successful trade and medical missions to Nigeria, he is a founding advisor to the Association of Good Clinical Practice in Nigeria and also a member of the Nigerian Clinical Trial Technical Working Group. He currently serves as the General Secretary of the Igbo Catholic Community USA (ICCUSA) and a Regional Coordinator for National Association of African Catholics in the United States (NAACUS).

Dr. Kelechi Lawrence is an innovative professional with diverse and extensive experience in clinical development. He held leadership positions in business development, clinical trial management, project management and medical affairs in global pharmaceutical companies for over 25 years. At Columbia University, he obtained the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Development Award for Minority Faculty and was the first to be awarded the NIH Postdoctoral Investigator Research Supplement Award in the department of molecular medicine. He is the Chief Strategist of American International Medical Systems, a Delaware medical billing and tele-medicine solutions provider.

Dr. Lawrence holds a Ph.D. in molecular pharmacology from the Medical University of South Carolina (Charleston, SC) and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University (New York). He also holds an MBA in Marketing/Finance from the University of Delaware.