Inbal Leibovits

Inbal Leibovits is an Assistant Professor in the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University. She earned her Ph.D. in Communication from The University of Texas at Austin in 2023. Her research examines how marginalized communities navigate and participate in civic, organizational, and policymaking processes, with particular attention to people experiencing homelessness and survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). Drawing on community-engaged ethnographic research, her work explores how communication can create opportunities for civic participation, amplify lived experience in decision-making, foster belonging, and contribute to more responsive policies and social change.

Leibovits’ research employs ethnographic and rhetorical methods and emphasizes collaboration with community partners and people with lived experience. Her current research examines how lived experience can be meaningfully integrated into policymaking and organizational decision-making, as well as how communication shapes pathways toward housing stability.

Before entering academia, Leibovits spent more than a decade in leadership roles in civil society and social change organizations in Israel. She has extensive experience leading teams, managing partnerships, organizing community initiatives, and facilitating strategic planning processes in diverse communities. She is also a trained conflict resolution facilitator with extensive experience leading dialogue groups around the globe.