Jamaican Lawman Lynch vies to replace Darlene Mealy in Council District 41 in Brooklyn

Jamaican-born Lawman Lynch has entered the hotly-contested race to replace Darlene Mealy, the incumbent City Council representative for the 41st District in Brooklyn.

District 41 comprises Bedford Stuyvesant, Ocean Hill, Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, and Remsen Village sections.

Six candidates are vying to replace Mealy.

“The main reason for running is District 41 deserves better leadership that puts people at the center of all facets of the development of the various communities,” said Lynch, an elementary and middle schools program manager at New York Edge, considered the most extensive afterschool program and enrichment services provider in New York City, impacting over 20,000 children daily.

Lynch said New York Edge provides educational and support services to public schools, charter schools, and community centers.

“Communities within the district (41st) are still stigmatized as woefully underdeveloped, and there is a need for strategic, comprehensive community engagements that the incumbent has failed at operationalizing for almost two decades of being a part of the political process,” he added.

“We are running a PEOPLE-centered campaign, a platform that puts PEOPLE at the center of everything we do,” Lynch continued.

He said the focus will be on “(P) Public Safety, working closely with community stakeholders; (E) Education, implementing a wrap-around educational model in District Public Schools and initiating the District 41 Academies; (O) Optimization and Opportunities for constituents; (P) Public Health, with a focus on mental health issues; (L) Love, strategically engaging our faith-based organizations and other stakeholders to strengthen DEI and belonging; and (E) Entrepreneurship and Enterprise, focusing on business incubators for budding and/or struggling entrepreneurs.”

Lynch—a community development advocate born in Kingston, the Jamaican capital, who migrated to New York in 2010—is running a campaign that focuses on social justice.

He said his priorities include education, social and economic development, and healthcare.

“Our campaign is hopeful that our message will continue to resonate with electorates,” Lynch said. “We are the only campaign challenging the incumbent to have received matching funds. We are the only campaign challenging the incumbent to attract matching funds from within the district.

“Of all the campaigns, we have attracted the most donors across the United States, even more donors than the incumbent,” he added. “We were able to make the ballot with three times the required amount of signatures. From our internal canvassing, it is clear that many voters are willing to join our movement.

Recognized by New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams in 2024 as “a trailblazer in community development,” Lynch said he had been actively involved in youth and community development since he was 7.

He prides himself on being a “People’s Advocate,” educator, development and communications strategist, and entrepreneur.

Lynch served as center and programs director at The Salvation Army in Brooklyn from 2011 to 2015.

At New York Edge, Lynch said he oversees educational and enrichment services delivery in multiple New York City charter and public schools.  

In addition, he said he is an author, musician, and award-winning youth and community development activist.

He was a recipient of Caribbean Life’s 20 Under 40 Trailblazers in 2013 and the founder of The Lawman Lynch Foundation, Inc. (LLF), established in 2008. LLF is a New York-based nonprofit that focuses on child, youth, and community development and supports programs in the United States and the Caribbean.

Additionally, Lynch is the CEO of the five-year-old CariGlo Diaspora, LLC, a multifaceted human services and FinTech company.

Lynch served two terms as chairman of the African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP) Civil Society Forum in Brussels, from 2007 to 2011, and previously served as a member, from 2019 to 2022, of the Education Sector of the Jamaica Diaspora North East USA Think Tank.

Lynch considers himself a lifelong learner whose purpose is to facilitate the upward mobility of those he interacts with.  

He holds a BA in communications from CELA International University, a private university in Hialeah, FL; a master’s in educational leadership from St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens, FL; and is currently a Ph. D candidate at St. Thomas University, focusing on ethical leadership in education, the private and the public sectors.