Ed Kornegay, PhD, is a nationally recognized practitioner-scholar and executive director of the Center for Poverty Solutions at the Illinois Policy Institute. With more than 30 years of leadership across academic, community, reentry, and faith-based environments, he develops innovative, human-centered strategies to reduce poverty and expand opportunity.

Dr. Kornegay’s work is distinguished by its integration of theory and practice. Drawing on expertise in pragmatism, semiotics, linguistics, hermeneutics, postcolonial and gender theory, and Black religion and theology, he crafts solutions that operate at the grassroots level while influencing systems-level thinking. His approach centers dignity, agency, and self-governance as the foundation for sustainable transformation.

Recognized as a leading interdisciplinary theological philosopher, Dr. Kornegay advances a pluralistic framework that enables individuals and communities to rethink identity, history, and meaning. His work challenges dependency-based models and inspires pathways toward responsibility, freedom, and collective flourishing.