Starsky Wilson
Starsky Wilson (born 1976, Dallas, Texas) is an American activist and minister who is the president of the Children's Defense Fund. He is known for advocating for children's rights and racial equity. Education Wilson, a native of Dallas, traveled to Xavier University in New Orleans and entered the NAACP's ACT-SO oratorical competitions when he was a teenager. He later earned a bachelor's degree in political science at Xavier. His master's degree in divinity was earned from Eden Theological Seminary and his doctorate in ministry from Duke University. Career Wilson worked for the United Way, which led to him moving to St. Louis, Missouri. In 2008, Wilson took over as pastor for St. John’s Church, an interracial, inner city United Church of Christ congregation in St. Louis. Wilson was the fourteenth pastor and the second Black pastor to lead the church since its founding in 1855 by German immigrants. In 2012, Wilson joined with other Missouri faith leaders to advocate for a ballot initiative to regulate payday lending in Missouri. In 2011, while serving as pastor of St. John’s, Wilson became President and CEO of the Deaconess Foundation in St. Louis. When Michael Brown was killed by police in 2014, St.