Ahmeenah Young, 69, a former president of the Pennsylvania Convention Center, died of cancer June 2 at her home in West Mt. Airy.
Ms. Young was the first African American and the first female president and chief executive officer of the Convention Center, serving from September 2008 to December 2013 when the center was placed under private management. Promoted to president/CEO while the center was undergoing a $787 million expansion, she made sure that women, minorities and the disadvantaged received almost one-third of the contracts.
Earlier, in the 1980s, she was director of the center’s affirmative-action team. She also had been general manager of the Independence Visitor’s Center Corp. and worked for a time as an executive recruiter in the hospitality industry.
After retiring from the Convention Center, Ms. Young continued to served on the center’s Expansion Arts Project Committee. She served on many boards and recently joined the Pennsylvania “Gaming Control Board. She was a longtime social activist.
Born in South Philadelphia, she was a graduate of Maria Goretti High School and Temple University, where she majored in psychology.
She is survived by a son, Pakeso Young; a daughter, Asiya Young; and three grandchildren.
She was a member of Triumph Baptist Church, in Hunting Park, and the Mosque of Shaikh M.R. Bawa Muhaiyadden, in Overbrook, where funeral services were held June 4. – WF
