Teresa N. Washington is an African American academic, author, activist, and public speaker. She is known for her research on Àjẹ́, a Yorùbá term that defines both a spiritual power inherent in Africana women and the persons who have that power. Washington's book Our Mothers, Our Powers, Our Texts: Manifestations of Àjẹ́ in Africana Literature is the first comprehensive book-length study of Àjẹ́. Her book The Architects of Existence: Àjẹ́ in Yoruba Cosmology, Ontology, and Orature gives an in-depth analysis of the power of Àjẹ́ in the Yorùbá ethos and worldview.