Rev. W. Tali Hairston, MAGL, is Director of Community Organizing, Advocacy, and Development at Seattle Presbytery and member of Lake Burien Presbyterian Church near Seattle. He currently directs the Seattle Presbytery’s Lilly Endowment Thriving Congregations grant program. His work with congregations began in 1998 with World Vision’s Vision Youth program and continued as Director of the John Perkins Center at Seattle Pacific University for 17 years.

He is father to four wonderful young people: Isaiah, Kennadi, Lynia, and Jordan. He and his beautiful wife Crystal enjoy doing ministry together, going to plays and musicals, and being foodies. Along with an amazing community of friends, these are the true gifts of his life that encourage and strengthen him.

Tali is a graduate of the University of Washington and Fuller Seminary and hopes to complete his PhD in Educational Leadership this year. As a noted speaker, writer, consultant, researcher, and educator he is passionate about the work of organizational diversity, reconciliation studies, global urban community development, equity inclusive justice, and public theology.

Hairston engages public and private sectors in organizational culture work through integration of equity-inclusive practices, metrics and framework development, community building, and public policy leadership. Tali was appointed to serve on the Seattle Public Library Board of Trustees in 2020. Seattle’s Franklin High School’s Public Service Academy awarded him the “Spirit of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Service award in 2017. He was also awarded the Jurisprudence Champion Award – Section on Public Law and Administration (2016) – for his contributions to the practice of public law and administration.

Tali’s purpose, gifts, and call have taken him all over the world working with ministries and leaders from Cambodia to South Africa. Shaped by these global experiences and inspired by his own family history as one of the largest enslaved families in American history, Tali seeks to equip, educate, and encourage everyone.