Upon her return to Memphis, Leigh worked in a preschool, directed an after-school youth enrichment program in an underserved area, and for several years coordinated the local alum program for a national organization focused on empowering high school students to study history for the purpose of standing against bigotry and hate.
There, she met her spouse, Adam Graham, also from Tennessee. Leigh was ordained in to a validated non-parish ministry with a small Presbyterian nonprofit focused on serving refugees after their reception and placement period. She worked with refugees from more than 10 countries to upgrade their employment, get further education and vocational training, learn vocationally focused English, and establish a generationally sustainable life as a new American.
As Chaplain, she worked with refugee congregations to assist pastors with navigating hospital visits, social services, and cross-cultural communication.
After five years in that ministry, she left for a Temporary Stated Supply position at a small but revitalizing congregation in Nashville while serving as Vice Chair of the Committee on Preparation for Ministry. Leigh then accepted a new call as Director of Global Mission for a large church in Atlanta, GA, and moved there in For four years, she led congregation members involved in church-to-church partnerships in five countries outside the U.
During that time, she had the opportunity to visit and befriend Presbyterian congregations in Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, and Lebanon. Leigh and Adam live in Decatur, GA. Together, they enjoy their bonded brother and sister cats, Henrietta Ruby and Henry, cooking, hiking, traveling especially to the National Parks , and tending to the native habitat they established in their backyard.
