(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) – Jomo Akono’s story is truly amazing - and inspiring.

This Radio Disc Jockey/Producer who has immersed himself in his African heritage and culture in so many ways in the Buffalo Community, started as an Apprentice Carpenter nearly 21 years ago - at the behest of his Father, who was also a Union Carpenter.

“‘You should do this, you’ll do good,’” Akono (Pictured Above/WNYLaborToday.com Photos) said his Father told him many years ago as he went back-and-forth on making a decision on what he would do with the rest of his life.

“And (his Father) ‘also said: You can still do music and make money too. Work to support your music,’” Akono recalled while taking a moment from last Fall’s Western New York Construction Career Days Event in nearby Lakeview at the home of International Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 17, where he manned Carpenters Local 276 tent to talk to some of the nearly 1,000 high school students who were in attendance to be introduced to a potential and future career in the Unionized Building Trades.

Since making that fateful decision, Akono has methodically risen in the ranks of the North Atlantic Regional Council of Carpenters - becoming a Council Representative while doing now what his Father counseled him to consider more than two decades ago.

The North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters represents 30,000 Union Carpenters and oversees a very large region that consists of New York State and the New England States (Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine).

Besides being a Council Representative, Akono also serves as a Trustee on the Local 276 Executive Board, is a Committee Member on the North Atlantic States Regional Council Of Carpenters’ Executive Board, a Trustee on the North Atlantic States Carpenters Labor Management Program, and a Board Member for Buffalo and Erie County Workforce Investment Board.

In addition, he’s also heavily involved at WUFO, a legendary Black Radio Station in Buffalo.

“This ‘stable (Union) work gives me the chance to volunteer and help, talking to students’ (about a career with the Carpenters Union),” said Akono - who was recognized in the 2024 Black Power Players List (in PoliticsNY and amNY Metro) and the City and State NY 2024 Power of Diversity: Black 100 List, during a break he took to talk to WNYLaborToday.com.

“It was ‘incredible,’” Akono (who was 34 when he first began his Union career) said of his start with Local 276. “I traveled and worked (on projects) with my Father. I ‘never saw all these (individual) Trades’ (working around each other at the same time). ‘I just never knew this existed.’ ‘It just opened up everything.’”

“Then I became ‘active in extra work activities and got involved in our Pre-Apprenticeship effort, talking to high school students about Apprenticeships,’” he said.

In the mid-2010s, Akono traveled to the Carpenters’ Las Vegas facilities where he received “training to become a leader” within his Union.

“I was selected (to take part in the Leadership Program),” he explained, further stating how “proud” he was to be part of a Union with 500,000 Members across the U.S. and Canada.

“It ‘opened my eyes of what the global mission could be and how Apprenticeship was the future of Organized Labor,’” he said.

For a 90-day shadow period, Akono worked in the field, observing Union Representatives and Organizers, which proved to be an invaluable experience.

In January 2016, he became a Council Representative for the North Atlantic Regional Council of Carpenters. 

Eight years ago he was named to the Council’s Executive Board.

“My Father ‘didn’t believe it,’” Akono said with a big smile.

“But ‘it shows young people what is possible - that you are the story,’” he said.

Over the course of his life, Akono has tirelessly immersed himself with numerous community organizations in Buffalo whose mission is to help empower African Americans, as well as other minorities, and disadvantaged individuals to secure economic self-dependence.

And, Akono has also taken the time to work with Elected Officials to secure Workforce Development Grants that help young people out there who were just like him.

“I ask (young people) ‘what they want to do.’ I ‘show them the options and the difference’ (between working Union and Non-Union). ‘And it’s different talking to some from the city verses a rural community, but I talk to people about where they are,’” he said.

All of this has made Akono want to be even “more active in my community.”

“‘You just go out and meet the opportunity where it is,’” he said.

“I ‘think about all of this (his life, career, music and the community) and it makes me proud, but especially talking to people who need help’,” he said. “We ‘have to get (young people) ready for when the jobs break and when you sit down with politicians, they just don’t know - so you get the chance to educate people.’ ‘It makes my job easier.”

In 2020, Akono was recognized as a Champion For Diversity And Inclusion at the Inclusion Diversity Equity Awareness (IDEA) Awards presented by Business First, Buffalo’s Business Newspaper.

At that time, North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters Executive Secretary-Treasurer Thomas Flynn said: “Jomo Akono embodies the core values of the Carpenters and the Labor Movement - and we are proud that he has been recognized for his leadership. The Carpenters have made our commitment to diversity and inclusion the cornerstone of our effort to build a strong, sustainable membership that expands opportunity to hard-working Men and Women in every community.”

Also speaking at that event was New York State Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples, who said of Akono: "I think of (him) as much more than just a Carpenter. He uses his skills a Carpenter to help build better communities. As Council Representative, Jomo uses his leadership skills to help promote diversity and inclusion in the Building Trades. Jomo has been an important force in getting more People of Color involved in Apprentice Programs that can lead to Union Membership and individuals being able to take care of their households with living wages.”

WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: Pictured below, Akono chats with Western New York AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation (WNYALF) President Denise Abbot and former WNYALF President Richard Lipsitz during the Western New York Construction Career Days event.