Onleilove Alston
Born and raised in East New York, Brooklyn, Onleilove Chika Alston brings over 13 years of community organizing and advocacy experience and more than 17 years in the non-profit sector to her teaching and leadership roles. She has led community organizing and advocacy campaigns across New York City State as well as nationally and internationally. Currently, she serves as the Social Worker for the Neighborhood Initiatives Development Corporation, where she oversees the Family Support Network, offering trauma-informed workshops and programming for parents and child caregivers.
Onleilove is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University School of Social Work, teaching Foundations of Social Work Practice: Decolonizing Social Work, Spirituality, Religion, and Social Work, and Human Behavior in the Social Environment: Spirituality, Religion, and Social Work. She also teaches the History of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism and the Marginalized for Union Theological Seminary’s MPS program at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. Additionally, she teaches Criminal Justice and Corrections at Hope International University and courses in Social Justice for Southern New Hampshire University.
Onleilove earned her Bachelor’s degree in Human Development with a minor in African American Studies from Penn State University. In 2011, she completed dual Master’s degrees in Divinity from Union Theological Seminary and Social Work from Columbia University. She is currently pursuing a doctorate at Virginia Union University, focusing her research on West African Jewish communities. Her scholarly work is reflected in her book, Prophetic Whirlwind, which explores African and African American Jewish communities, justice, and communal healing. The book, based on extensive travel and research, is the only work by an African American woman to examine Jewish communities in West Africa. For her research she lived in Ghana, West Africa and traveled to various countries in Africa and the Middle East.
Onleilove’s leadership has been recognized through her role as the youngest member of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Clergy Advisory Council and her service on Mayor Eric Adams’ Faith Transition Committee. She has testified before the United Nations on the impact of mass incarceration on Black women and girls. Her writing has appeared in Sojourners Magazine, HuffPost Religion, NY Daily News, and NPR’s On Being, among print and online publications.
Beyond her professional and academic pursuits, Onleilove is passionate about travel, has a large extended family and lives in Harlem.
Highlights
-
Organized and led the Faith Over Fear Civic Engagement Campaign, mobilizing over 90 congregations and 30 faith institutions to create a progressive policy platform and voter engagement strategy, ultimately reaching more than 20,000 faith-based voters across New York.
-
Directed New York’s largest faith-based community organizing federation, representing 100 multi-faith, multi-racial congregations and serving 80,000 families.
Research Interest
- The Implicit Bias of Colorism and its Impact on the Criminalization of Black Women and Girls.
- The History of Community Organizing in East New York, Brooklyn
- Faith-Based Community Organizing and Advocacy.
- African and African American Jewish communities.
Grants & Projects
- 2022-2023 l NYC Office of Civic Engagement TRIE Neighborhood Coordinator (TNC) for the Taskforce for Racial Inclusion and Equity (TRIE) neighborhoods of Morningside Heights and Hamilton Heights
Selected Published Works
- Alston, O.C. (2020). A Litany for Anchoring and Energizing Justice Work with Sabbath, Contemplation, and Community. In B. Winn Lee (Ed.), Rally. Nashville, TN: Fresh Air Books.
- Alston, O.C. (2015). The New Jim Crow: A Poem. S.D. King (Ed.), Out of the Depths: Poetry of Poverty–Courage and Resilience. Duluth, MN: Holy Cow! Press.
- Let’s Reform Our Broken Criminal Justice System. (2016). Religion & Politics Magazine.
- In rezoning, a tale of two cities: Poorer, black, and Latino neighborhoods and wealthier, predominantly white ones still get treated very differently by the city. (Sep 12, 2016). NY Daily News.
- Is Dark Skin A Sin? Colorism & Criminal Justice (2015). Sojourners & CBE Voices of Color Blogs.
- We Are Not an Island: Queen Quet, The Gullah/Guchee People & Their Struggle for Environmental Justice. (July 2014). Sojourners Magazine.
- Connecting The Dots: Hurricane Sandy, Racism, Climate Change & Poverty. (2013). Sojourners Magazine
- Romney vs. Reality: A Social Worker’s Perspective. (2012). HuffPost Religion.
- New York Domestic Workers Call for Rights. (2010). Sojourners Blog.
- Destroying West Virginia, One Mountain At A Time: The Battle for The Mountains in West Virginia. (2010). Sojourners Magazine.
- A Call to Action for Healthcare Equality. (2007) The Black Commentator