Almeda M. Wright is the tenured associate professor of Religious Education at Yale Divinity School (CT). Wright’s research focuses on African American religion and education, Womanist spirituality, adolescent spiritual development, and the intersections of religion and public life. She recently launched Communitas, a young adult ministry innovation hub at Yale, centering BIPOC young adults and seeking to create working space for the creation of spiritual communities connecting young adult leaders with congregations and community partners. She is also the co-principal investigator for the Conectere Project, a partnership with Eastern Mennonite University, to empower parents and caregivers in their efforts to create more secure bonds with their children and to explore ways of sharing their faith and values with their children., centering BIPOC young adults and seeking to create spiritual communities connecting young adult leaders with congregations and community partners. She is also the co-principal investigator for the Conectere Project, a partnership with Eastern Mennonite University (VA), to empower parents and caregivers in their efforts to create more secure bonds with their children and to explore ways of sharing their faith and values with their children.
Wright’s publications include Teaching to Live: Black Religion, Activist-Educators and Radical Social Change (Oxford University Press, 2024) and The Spiritual Lives of Young African Americans (Oxford University Press, 2017); a coedited book with Mary Elizabeth Moore, Children, Youth, and Spirituality in a Troubling World; a special issue of Religions Journal; and various articles in scholarly journals. Her research has been supported by the Lilly Endowment, Inc., the John D. Templeton Foundation, the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning, the Forum for Theological Exploration, and the Louisville Institute.