Dr. Owens has been with the David O. McKay School of Education since 2017. He grew up in suburban Los Angeles before attending Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Partway through his undergraduate years, he served a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He earned a BA in International Relations before returning to California to teach Latino immigrant students in the Los Angeles Unified School District. He returned to BYU's Department of Educational Leadership and Foundations to earn a Masters Degree in International Development Education, during which time he interned at the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIPE/Buenos Aires, part of UNESCO) in Argentina. After receiving his Masters Degree, he attended the University of Utah, where he earned a PhD in Educational Leadership and Policy and worked with the university's TRiO Upward Bound program. His experiences in Argentina, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, and Detroit have shaped his research agenda, which focuses on leadership and followership in schools and other educational organizations that serve youth in cities.