Four visionary leaders recognized for pioneering ministries that embody courage and creativity to empower systemic change

Wesleyan Impact Partners, a national nonprofit and ministry partner to churches, nonprofit ministries, and leaders, proudly announces the 2026 Locke Innovative Leader Award honorees, spiritual entrepreneurs whose faith-driven innovation is reshaping communities and congregations alike.

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Reverend Lea Matthews is one of four 2026 Locke Innovative Leader Award honorees recognized by Wesleyan Impact Partners, a national nonprofit and ministry partner to churches, nonprofit ministries, and leaders. She is the associate pastor at St. Paul & St. Andrew United Methodist Church in New York City and the founder of Miracle Mondays. She also is co-founder of Sacred Court Support, an immigration accompaniment program operated in collaboration with Co-Counsel NYC, Congregation B'nai Jeshurun, and HIAS-NY.

Recipients of the Locke Innovative Leader Award embody creative, courageous leadership expressed through practices that expand the church’s capacity for renewal, resilience, and justice. Their ministries show how congregations, communities, and leaders can work together as a living, interconnected ecosystem for transformation.

This year’s Locke Innovative Leaders are reimagining sanctuary for immigrant families, regenerating local economies through faith-rooted entrepreneurship, mobilizing congregations to address mass incarceration, and equipping a new generation of leaders to integrate worship, discipleship, and justice into everyday ministry.

Each awardee receives $50,000 and joins a cohort of past recipients — a vibrant network designed to strengthen their ideas, expand their impact, and inspire others. To date, Wesleyan Impact Partners has invested more than $2 million in these leaders, helping them reach communities often overlooked.

“The Locke Innovative Leader Award honors leaders who are paying close attention to where God is already at work and courageously responding with love,” said Rev. Lisa Greenwood, president and CEO of Wesleyan Impact Partners. “These leaders don’t rush past complexity or suffering. They listen deeply, gather others, and expand the church’s imagination through creating spaces where dignity is affirmed, communities are strengthened, and new possibilities for flourishing take root.”

The 2026 Locke Innovative Leaders are:

Reverend Lea Matthews is the associate pastor at St. Paul & St. Andrew United Methodist Church in New York City and the founder of Miracle Mondays. She is also co-founder of Sacred Court Support, an immigration accompaniment program operated in collaboration with Co-Counsel NYC, Congregation B'nai Jeshurun, and HIAS-NY. An innovator and a teacher, Rev. Matthews helps churches embody radical hospitality and justice in complex urban contexts. Blending pastoral care and liberation theology, she equips congregations to become places of belonging, dignity, and practical support for marginalized communities. She multiplies the church’s capacity to integrate spiritual formation, justice, and sustainable community care.

Matt St. Pierre is the executive director and co-founder of Restore Merced, a faith-rooted nonprofit in California’s Central Valley advancing economic justice through social entrepreneurship, reconciliation, and neighborhood-based community development. Drawing on theology, entrepreneurship, and long-term neighborhood presence, he creates models that affirm dignity through meaningful work and local investment. His leadership shows how churches and communities can move beyond charity toward empowerment, collaboration, and lasting economic and social renewal.

Reverend Nikia Smith Robert, PhD, is the founder and executive director of Abolitionist Sanctuary, a national coalition mobilizing religious leaders, scholars, and community organizers to advance faith-rooted responses to mass incarceration and the criminalization of impoverished Black motherhood. Grounded in womanist theology and social ethics, she integrates rigorous scholarship with community-based practice to equip churches to engage public education, advocacy, and policy change that challenge punitive systems and reimagine justice. Dr. Robert’s work expands the moral imagination of faith communities while delivering tangible pathways toward justice, healing, and liberation for those most impacted by carceral systems.

Reverend Sandra Van Opstal is a speaker, author, and founding executive director of Chasing Justice, a movement equipping young leaders and churches — especially emerging BIPOC leaders — to integrate worship, discipleship, and activism. With deep roots in urban ministry and multicultural formation, she helps congregations embody faith that is both spiritually grounded and socially engaged. Rooted in Chicago, she influences national and global networks, sparking prophetic imagination across generations, shaping a church where justice is central to Christian life.

About the Locke Innovative Leader Award

The Locke Innovative Leader Award recognizes individuals who demonstrate exceptional creativity and leadership in developing new practices and ministries that expand the reach of God’s love.

The Locke Innovative Leader Award aims to inspire and strengthen innovation throughout the Wesleyan community while celebrating the boldness needed to explore new ideas and embrace lifelong learning. By celebrating these leaders, the award aims to inspire others to pioneer fresh approaches that highlight individuals, strengthen neighborhoods, and advance the mission of the Wesleyan movement.

Each recipient is a proven innovator with a promising future who has positively impacted the Wesleyan ecosystem by working directly at the intersection of faith and transformation.

Through versatile ministry, social entrepreneurship, and collaboration, these leaders focus on reaching communities and populations that are often overlooked or under-resourced, guided by a Spirit-led generosity. To learn more, visit https://wesleyanimpactpartners.org/locke-leaders.

About Wesleyan Impact Partners

Wesleyan Impact Partners is a national nonprofit fueled by impact investors, borrowers, and donors who invest in ministries and innovative leaders courageously doing God's work, empowering a cycle of generosity and helping bring about thriving congregations and flourishing communities. Throughout its 55-plus-year history, Wesleyan Impact Partners has made thousands of loans totaling over half a billion dollars, empowering churches across the United States to pursue their God-sized dreams while also lifting up the work of courageous spiritual entrepreneurs across the Wesleyan Ecosystem through the nationally recognized Locke Innovative Leader Award and its thought leadership in Igniting Imagination®. Our work is made possible through partnerships across the country with impact-focused investors, donors, and Methodist foundations. Based in Austin, Texas, the organization is led by President & CEO Rev. Lisa Greenwood, who is also President & CEO of the Texas Methodist Foundation. To learn more, visit https://wesleyanimpactpartners.org.

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“These leaders don’t rush past complexity or suffering. They listen deeply, gather others and expand the church’s imagination through creating spaces where dignity is affirmed, communities are strengthened, and new possibilities for flourishing take root."