Dr. Keisha E. McKenzie is Senior Vice President of Programs and a strategist who interprets communication, religion, spirituality, and politics as social change technologies.
From 2018-2019, Keisha was Director of Digital Strategy and managed the Groundswell Movement organizing community, consulted with other program team members on deepening their impact through Auburn’s digital platforms, and collaborated with the Auburn communications team on public or movement-facing content.
Originally from the UK, Keisha completed college in Jamaica and graduate studies in technical communication and rhetoric at Texas Tech University, where she supported the Provost’s Office with policy writing and both academic re-accreditation (SACS) and athletic recertification (NCAA). Her doctoral research (2012) addressed the British government’s scientific and public communication about weapons of mass destruction in the lead-up to war in Iraq (2002-2003).
Through McKenzie Consulting Group, a communication, systems-level strategy, and social good firm, Keisha has since worked as a communication/development strategist, faith organizer, and consultant, and served on several faith-rooted justice nonprofit boards across the United States. As director of Believe Out Loud, an advocacy, digital organizing LGBTQIA Christian platform, Keisha managed a respected affirming faith-based program, supported justice campaigning among lay people around the US, and led the team in internationalizing the program’s content.
Keisha participates in Seventh-day Adventist congregations in New York and Maryland, and appears in the how-to dialogue film on faith, gender, and sexuality, Enough Room at the Table. Keisha believes that all people have inherent worth and dignity, that we deserve a world where all of us can flourish, and that people of faith have a responsibility to help make that world real.
Keisha is a member of the Aspen Religion and Society Program’s Powering Pluralism Network; a board member at the Center for Faith, Justice, and Reconciliation; coauthor with Liz Reiner Platt (Law, Rights, and Religion Project) of the All Faiths and None religious liberty report and discussion deck, and a 2022 Rooted in Resilience Fellow at Faith Matters Network. Keisha served on the board of the Adventist Today Foundation from 2017-2022, and publishes an e-newsletter called On Tomorrow’s Edge.
Recently—
- * With Rob Hopkins and Shanon Shah on episode 18 of From What If to What Next, a podcast on climate and imagination: What if faith communities were a critical part of the emerging imagination infrastructure?
- * With Rev. Dr. Lee Hinson-Hasty on Leading Theologically: What is civically-engaged ministry?
- * With Lisa Anderson, Dr. Sharon Groves, Dr. Erica Ramirez, and Dr João B. Chaves on “I Need You To Survive,” an Auburn research webinar: What do Black, Latinx and Hispanic, and White people of faith have to say about belonging, polarization, and what it means to be an American?
- * With Leah Pryor-Lease, Dr. Sharon Groves, Caitlin Breedlove, Sunita Viswanath, and Bishop Dwayne Royster on faith/spirit justice organizing and community building: How are faith organizers and community builders helping people to connect values and action?
- * With Drs. Guiseppe Getto, Josephine Walwema, Godfrey Agboka, and David Hopkins at the Society of Technical Communication: How can we build inclusive teams and why does it matter?
