Dr. Leslie A. Anderson is an Assistant Professor of Family & Consumer Sciences and a licensed marriage and family therapist with over 10 years of clinical experience, primarily serving Black youths and families. As a faculty affiliate of The National Center for the Elimination of Educational Disparities (NCEED), she conducts research on the social and emotional learning and psychological well-being of both children and adults. Dr. Anderson earned her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Science, with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy, from the University of Georgia.

As a scholar-practitioner, Dr. Anderson’s program of research focuses on the intersection of Black familial processes, race and racism, and psychological well-being. Specifically, she investigates how racial socialization and a positive racial identity act as protective factors against racial harm and injury.

Her research has been published in the Journal of Family Theory and Review, the Journal of Black
Psychology, Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, the Journal of Research on Adolescence, the Journal of Social Issues and others. Dr. Anderson also serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Family Theory and Review and Family Process, and she reviews for numerous other academic journals.

A cornerstone of Dr. Anderson’s scholarship is her commitment to amplifying the voices of underserved and historically excluded communities while centering their lived experiences. She is currently part of a multi-institutional research team conducting a longitudinal project funded by the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) that aims to identify risk and protective factors for suicidality among young Black children in early and middle childhood.