Willie Dwayne Francois III

President, Black Church Center for Justice and Equality

The Rev. Willie Dwayne Francois III serves as senior pastor of Fountain Baptist Church in Summit, New Jersey, and as president of the Black Church Center for Justice and Equality, a national think tank and policy advocacy organization. He also serves as associate professor of liberation theology at New York Theological Seminary and as director of the NYTS master of professional studies program at the Sing Sing and Bedford Hills correctional facilities.

Francois’ pastoral activism takes shape around racial equity, economic justice and criminal justice reform. His most recent book, “Silencing White Noise: Six Practices to Overcome Our Inaction on Race,” was released August 2022. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Morehouse College with a B.A. in history and religion and holds an M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School and a D.Min. from Emory University.