Leslie Ekpe is a Ph.D. student at Texas Christian University in Higher Educational Leadership. Ekpe is an alumna of Alabama A&M University where she earned her B.S. in Management and the University of Alabama at Birmingham where she obtained her M.A. in Communication Management. She also holds an M.B.A. from Sam Houston State University. Her research seeks to promote access for marginalized students in education, with a specific focus on college access policies and racial politics in education.