AJ Calhoun

AJ Calhoun is the Director of Research and Impact at Leading on Opportunity, an initiative of Foundation For The Carolinas. In this role, he leads a team of designers and social scientists to build inclusive, data-driven tools to advance economic mobility. Before Leading on Opportunity, AJ worked on similar projects with the United Way, Knight Foundation, World Resources Institute, Chicago Community Trust, and Consultative Group to Assist the Poor at the World Bank. He serves on the board of directors for the affordable housing developer DreamKey Partners and is an Associate Fellow of the Kirby Liang Centre for Public Theology in Cambridge UK, where he is a member of the Economics Research Hub. He holds a master’s in public policy from the University of Chicago, a bachelor’s in urban studies from Furman University, and spent two years in Malaysia as a Fulbright Scholar. Currently, he's completing a master's in religion at Reformed Theological Seminary DC where his research explores how experiences of desire and delight shape behavior. AJ lives in Charlotte with his wife Emery where they enjoy cooking for friends, debating literature, and racing each other in the daily NYT games. They are members of Christ Central Church and were recently featured in the film "A Kingdom of Tea and Strangers", a documentary about English L'Abri.