The Reverend Dr. Cassandra Gould is a native of Demopolis, Alabama 47 miles west of Selma, where her mother, the late Carrie Thelma Jefferson fought for voter rights in Selma and was injured and arrested on the Edmond Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday. Her family moved to St. Louis when she was a child. She currently serves as the Senior Strategist for Faith in Action and most recently relocated to Washington DC.
Dr. Gould is an ordained Itinerate Elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Most recently, she served for nine years as the Senior Pastor of Quinn Chapel A.M.E. Church in Jefferson City, MO. She is a church builder; during her first three years as pastor she led the church through a multimillion dollar relocation and building project.
Prior to moving to DC she served as the Executive Director of Missouri Faith Voices, the statewide Faith in Action affiliate in Missouri. Under her leadership in the 2018 election cycle Faith Voices led the second largest voter engagement campaign in Missouri engaging more than 50,000 Black and low propensity voters. Her organizing along with other partners led to historic voter turnout and the election of the first Black County St. Louis County Prosecutor, Wesley Bell. Dr. Gould has led as a pastor in the public square from Ferguson to Buffalo and Ghana.
Dr. Gould has been a national voice on voting rights and the fight against predatory lending. She has worked to expand the electorate and protect voter rights for decades. Dr. Gould is featured in the film Rigged: The Voter Suppression Playbook and is contributor to Preaching as Resistance an anthology of prophetic sermons. She is the recipient of many awards including the National Shining Star award along with Donna Brazile and Tamara Burkes from N.O.B.E.L. Women (National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women) and an NAACP Lifetime Award.
She is a sought after preacher, lecturer, guest columnist and thought partner. She is a contributor to Preaching as Resistance (Chalice Press 2018). She is an alumna of Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and Columbia College. In addition, to undergraduate degrees she holds an M.Div from Eden Seminary. She also has earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from United Theological Seminary, where she was a Samuel Dewitt Proctor Fellow. Her dissertation, “Beyond the Walls” has evolved into a digital ministry that is now two years old. She is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta, Sorority Inc., a mother and a grandmother. Her life’s work is rooted in the biblical mandate found in the words of the prophet Micah, “To do justice.” Dr. Gould states, “I live by the wisdom imparted to me from my parents, grandparents and ancestors. I realized long ago that working at the intersection of faith, justice and politics, in the words of our great Womanist ancestor, the Reverend Dr. Katie Geneva Cannon, “Is the work my soul must have.”
