Dr. Leah Austin is an accomplished, multi-faceted and visionary leader who has been working on behalf of Black children and their families for over two decades. Leah began her career as a public school teacher in Washington, DC..
Leah has enjoyed a dynamic career that has included teaching, grantmaking, organizing, research and evaluation. Her professional trajectory includes leadership positions with the United Way of Greater Atlanta, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Southern Education Foundation, Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs and the Schott Foundation for Public Education.
In each of these organizations she helped to accomplish great things by overseeing efforts to advance educational equity in the South, managing an investment portfolio designed to increase the education achievement of students in Atlanta, GA, providing language and literacy resources to teachers and families, establishing a national literacy campaign encouraging reading between boys and men, working on grassroots organizing efforts to successfully advocate for universal pre kindergarten legislation in Washington DC and strengthening the education justice movement by providing research, policy analysis and funding as well advocating within philanthropy to increase investments that support racial justice in education.
Leah holds degrees from Fisk University, Howard University and the University of Pennsylvania and a Certificate in Strategic Foresight from the University of Houston.