Leslie Houseworth (She/Her)Ph.D. Student (2024 Cohort)

Leslie Houseworth (she/her) is a Ph.D. student in African American Studies at Emory University. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Education from South Carolina State University, a Master of Education in Administration and Supervision from Clemson University, and a Master of Divinity with a certificate in Black Church Studies from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. Leslie is an ordained clergywoman and has pastored churches in New York City and New Jersey and has worked as a high school English teacher. Her experiences as a grassroots organizer, minister, and educator have informed her current research, which explores how power and moral authority intersect in Black communities in a post-church era and how such power can be leveraged for the formation and sustainability of social justice movements.