Naomi Washington-Leapheart

Faith, Community Organizing, Rights & Justice · Bisexual · American

About

American minister, professor, movement strategist, and justice advocate whose work connects Black queer life, faith, theology, education, and social justice. She has worked in LGBTQ+ faith organizing, Philadelphia city government, higher education, and movement strategy. She is the founder of Salt \| Yeast \| Light and serves as Strategic Partnerships Director at Political Research Associates.

Biography

Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart is an American minister, professor, movement strategist, and justice advocate whose work focuses on faith, LGBTQ+ justice, racial justice, and community organizing. A daughter of Detroit, she has built a significant part of her professional life in Philadelphia.

Washington-Leapheart served as Faith Work Director for the National LGBTQ Task Force before joining the City of Philadelphia as Director for Faith-Based and Interfaith Affairs, a position she held from 2019 to 2023. She is now Strategic Partnerships Director at Political Research Associates and teaches theology and religious studies.

In 2020, she founded Salt | Yeast | Light, an organization focused on spiritual education, theological reflection, political disruption, and communal transformation. She was the Government Fellow for Religion and Public Life at Harvard Divinity School in 2023–2024.

Notable Works

• Faith Work Director, National LGBTQ Task Force (2016 – 2019)

  Led faith-focused messaging, advocacy, and leadership development work within LGBTQ+ and faith communities.

• Director for Faith-Based and Interfaith Affairs, City of Philadelphia (2019 – 2023)

  Served as a public-facing leader connecting Philadelphia’s faith communities with city government.

• Salt | Yeast | Light (2020 – present)

  Founded organization developing spaces for spiritual education, reflection, transformation, and public action.

• Government Fellowship for Religion and Public Life, Harvard Divinity School (2023 – 2024)

  Served as Government Fellow examining the relationship between religious practice, public life, and government.

• Strategic Partnerships Director, Political Research Associates (2023 – present)

  Leads strategic partnership work at the social justice research and strategy center.

Learn More

• Political Research Associates, Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart

  Current professional profile documenting her work as a minister, professor, movement strategist, and Strategic Partnerships Director.

• National LGBTQ Task Force, Statement from Naomi Washington-Leapheart

  First-person statement documenting her identification as Black, a woman, and bisexual.

• City of Philadelphia, Naomi Washington-Leapheart

  Official profile documenting her Philadelphia government role and earlier LGBTQ+ faith organizing work.

• Harvard Divinity School, Religion and Public Life

  Institutional record documenting her 2023–2024 Government Fellowship and professional background.

BQW Impact

Washington-Leapheart contributes to Black queer cultural and community life through faith leadership, education, organizing, and movement strategy. In a 2019 statement, she explicitly identified herself as Black, a woman, and bisexual, and spoke about her marriage to another Black woman. Her work connects faith, racial justice, LGBTQ+ equality, and community liberation.

Profile details

• Fields: Lifestyle, Social Change
• Roles: Faith, Community Organizing, Rights & Justice
• Gender Identity: Woman
• LGBTQ Identity: Bisexual
• Nationality: American
• Ethnicity: African-American
• Topics: LGBTQ+ Rights, Racial Justice