Terence Lester

Activist, author, speaker, thought leader in the realm of systemic poverty, and a doctoral student in Union Institute & University’s Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies program

Terence Lester is fighting poverty and homelessness through his nonprofit Love Beyond Walls that he founded with his wife, Cecilia, in 2013. Their goal is to provide dignity to the homeless and poor by offering a voice, visibility, shelter, community, and grooming and support services to achieve self-sufficiency in Atlanta.

Love Beyond Walls has grown to provide mobile makeovers to the underserved, temporary shelter, and groceries for 300 to 500 families a month, clothing for the community and students, free laundry services, free water bins for those without running water, awareness campaigns to educate the community, and a leadership program.

Terence is also the founder of the Dignity Museum, the first traveling museum in the U.S. that represents homelessness. Built in 2019 from a shipping container, the museum uses interactive technology, research, storytelling, exhibits, and thought-provoking questions that help visitors confront their ideas of homelessness and the challenges of escaping it.

He holds four degrees and is the author of four books, including, “I See You: How Love Opens Our Eyes to Invisible People” (InterVarsity Press, 2019). He was awarded the Independent Sector’s 2020 American Express NGen Leadership award in October 2020. American Express Foundation President Timothy McClimon said, “Terence’s mission to raise awareness about the homeless, creatively find ways to get others to walk in their shoes, and develop solutions to help them transition out of homelessness, exemplifies the amazing work underway by emerging change-makers across the nation."

Read more here: https://www.lovebeyondwalls.org/about-us/