Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships

About the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships

The President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships brings together leaders and experts in fields related to the work of faith-based and neighborhood organizations in order to make recommendations to the Administration on how to improve the partnerships it forms to serve people in need. The Council is charged with:

  • Identifying best practices and successful modes of delivering social services
  • Evaluating the need for improvements in the implementation and coordination of public policies relating to faith-based and neighborhood organizations
  • Making recommendations to the President and the Administration on changes in policies, programs, and practices

After conducting its research, reviews, and deliberation, the Council submits written reports of its recommendations. 

The charge for the present Council focuses on steps the government should take to reduce poverty and inequality and create opportunity for all, including changes in policies, programs, and practices that affect the delivery of services by faith-based and community organizations and the needs of low-income and other underserved persons. Read the Council's report on this subject, Strengthening Efforts to Increase Opportunity and End Poverty. The current members of the Council are listed below.

Inaugural President's Advisory Council

The inaugural Advisory Council published its report of recommendations to the President in 2010. Chapters of the report are devoted to Economic Recovery and Domestic Poverty, Reform of the Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships Office, Fatherhood and Healthy Families, Interreligious Cooperation, Environment and Climate Change, and Global Poverty and Development. Learn more about the work and membership of the Inaugural President’s Advisory Council.

President's Advisory Council 2012

The issue of trafficking in persons and modern day slavery has been the focus of the current Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships in 2012 and 2013. Read the Council's April 2013 report on this subject, Building Partnerships to Eradicate Modern Day Slavery

Current Members of the President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships:

  • Council Chair: Reverend Jennifer Butler
  • Bishop Carroll A. Baltimore
  • Preeta Bansal 
  • Reverend David Beckmann
  • Reverend Traci D. Blackmon
  • Kara Bobroff 
  • Rachel Held Evans
  • Rabbi Steve Gutow 
  • Reverend Adam Hamilton  
  • Aziza Hasan 
  • Lanae Erickson Hatalsky 
  • David Jeffrey 
  • Naseem Kourosh
  • Dr. Jo Anne Lyon 
  • Pastor Michael McBride 
  • Nipun Mehta 
  • Kevin Ryan 
  • Reverend Dr. Gabriel A. Salguero
  • Barbara Satin
  • Dr. Stephen Schneck 
  • Manjit Singh
  • Alexie Torres-Fleming 
  • Deborah Weinstein 
  • Dr. Rami Nashashibi

Bishop Carroll A. Baltimore
Bishop Carroll A. Baltimore is the Senior Pastor of the International Community Baptist Churches, a position he has held since 1984.  He is also the current Chairman of Carroll A. Baltimore (C.A.B.) Outreach International Ministries, which he founded in 1992.  In addition, Bishop Baltimore also founded the Carroll A. Baltimore Christian Academy and the C.A.B. Non-Formal Education programs for alternative learning and vocational training.  He served as the President of the Progressive National Baptist Convention from 2010 to 2014, and he was consecrated the Global Bishop of Recruitment and Expansion for Global United Fellowship in July 2015.  Bishop Baltimore received an A.A. from Luther Rice College, a B.I.S. from George Mason University, a D.H.L from Virginia University, a DMiss from Richmond Virginia Seminary, an M.Th, Th.D. and D.D. from the International University Seminary, and a Th.B. from Washington Baptist Theological Seminary.

Preeta Bansal
Preeta Bansal is a Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab and a Senior Advisor at MIT’s Laboratory for Social Machines, positions she has held since 2014.  She is also President of Social Emergence Corporation, a not-for-profit founded in May 2015, which focuses on empowering human networks and community relationships.  From 2012 to 2013, Ms. Bansal served as a Global General Counsel for HSBC Holdings.  She has served on the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States, as a non-government member, since December 2011 and previously served as a government member and Vice Chairman from 2010 to July 2011.  From 2009 to 2011, Ms. Bansal served as General Counsel for the Office of Management and Budget.  She was Partner and head of the Appellate Litigation Practice at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom LLP from 2003 to 2009.  She served as a member of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom from 2003 to 2009, and as Chair from 2004 to 2005.  She was Solicitor General of the State of New York from 1999 to 2001.  Early in her legal career, she served as law clerk to United States Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.  Ms. Bansal is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute and a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.  She received a B.A. from Harvard-Radcliffe College and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Reverend David Beckmann
Reverend David Beckmann is the President of Bread for the World and Bread for the World Institute, positions he has held since 1991.  Rev. Beckmann also serves as President of Alliance to End Hunger, which he founded in 2001.  Prior to joining Bread for the World, Rev. Beckmann worked at the World Bank from 1976 to 1991.  He was named a World Food Prize Laureate in 2010.  Rev. Beckman currently serves on the United States Agency for International Development’s Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s Trade Advisory Committee on Africa, and the Executive Committee of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network.  Rev. Beckmann received a B.A. from Yale University, an M.Div from Christ Seminary, and a M.Sc. from the London School of Economics.

Reverend Traci D. Blackmon
Reverend Traci D. Blackmon is the Acting Executive Minister of Justice and Witness Ministries for The United Church of Christ.  She is also a Pastor at Christ the King United Church of Christ in Florissant, Missouri, where she has served since 2009.  Reverend Blackmon previously served as Coordinator of Health, Mind, Body, and Spirit for BJC HealthCare, and as Pastor of Simpson Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Columbia, Missouri.  Reverend Blackmon has thirty years of experience in the healthcare industry and served on The Ferguson Commission.  She received a B.S. from Birmingham-Southern College and an M.Div. from Eden Theological Seminary. 

Kara Bobroff,
Kara Bobroff is the Executive Director of the Native American Community Academy (NACA), which she founded in 2005.  She is also the Executive Director of the NACA-Inspired Schools Network, established in 2014.  Ms. Bobroff previously served in several roles within the public education system, including special education teacher at Jefferson Middle School from 1992 to 1996, Assistant Principal at Taft Middle School from 1996 to 1998, Dean of Students at Miller Creek Middle School from 1998 to 2002, and Principal of Newcomb Middle School from 2003 to 2004.  Ms. Bobroff was an Echoing Green Fellow in 2005 and is a current Pahara-Aspen Education Fellow.  She serves on the Board of Directors of the Learning Alliance of New Mexico, Harvard’s Urban Principal’s Center, Southwest Youth Services, and is a Community Advisory Council member for University of New Mexico Hospital.  Ms. Bobroff received a B.A., M.A., and Ed.S. from the University of New Mexico.

Reverend Jennifer Butler
Reverend Jennifer Butler is the CEO of Faith in Public Life (FPL), a position she has held since 2005.  Rev. Butler is the co-leader of Iona DC: A Christian Community, where she has served since 2013.  Before leading FPL, she represented the Presbyterian Church at the United Nations from 1996 to 2005.  Rev. Butler was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Belize from 1989 to 1991.  She received a B.A. from the College of William and Mary, an M.S.W. from Rutgers University, and a Master of Divinity at Princeton Theological Seminary.

Rachel Held Evans
Rachel Held Evans is a Christian blogger and the author of Faith Unraveled, A Year of Biblical Womanhood, and Searching for Sunday. In addition, Ms. Evans speaks at retreats, conferences, universities, and churches across the country. She has been featured on NPR, Slate, The BBC, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, CNN, The View, and The Today Show, and in 2012, she was named one of Christianity Today's “50 Women to Watch.”  Ms. Evans received a B.A. from Bryan College.

Rabbi Steve Gutow
Rabbi Steve Gutow is President of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, a position he has held since 2005.  In 2004, he served as Adjunct Professor of Law at the St. Louis University Law School.  Rabbi Gutow has helped lead the “Fighting Poverty with Faith” interfaith initiatives since 2008 and the anti-hunger Seder events at the U.S. Capitol since 2009.  From 2008 to 2009, Rabbi Gutow served as Chair of the Save Darfur Coalition, and currently serves as executive committee member of its successor organization, United to End Genocide.  Rabbi Gutow is the founding executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, which was founded in 1990.  Rabbi Gutow has served as a member of the Board of Faith in Public Life from 2010 to 2013.  He currently serves as Chair of the Board of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment and has served on its executive committee since 2012.  Rabbi Gutow received a B.A. and J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.H.L. from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.

Reverend Adam Hamilton
Reverend Adam Hamilton is the founding Pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, the largest United Methodist Church in the United States.  Reverend Hamilton is the author of 23 books, including Making Sense of the Bible.  Reverend Hamilton  speaks on leadership across the country, and in 2013, he delivered the sermon at the Inaugural Prayer Service held at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.  Reverend Hamilton received a B.A. from Oral Roberts University and an M.Div from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University.

Aziza Hasan,
Aziza Hasan is the Executive Director of NewGround: Muslim Jewish Partnership for Change, an organization she helped co-found in 2006.  From 2006 to 2012, Ms. Hasan served as the Southern California and Government Relations Director for the Muslim Public Affairs Council.  From 2001 to 2006, she was a Mental Health Worker at Prairie View Inc.  Ms. Hasan also was an AmeriCorps Program Manager at Interfaith Ministries from 2005 to 2006 and was a Team Leader from 2003 to 2005.  Prior to her time with AmeriCorps, Ms. Hasan was an Event and Project Coordinator for the Kansas Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution from 2000 to 2003. Ms. Hasan received a B.A. from Bethel College-North Newton, Kansas and an M.A. from Wichita State University.

Lanae Erickson Hatalsky
Lanae Erickson Hatalsky is the Vice President for the Social Policy and Politics Program at Third Way, a position she has held since September 2015.  Ms. Erickson Hatalsky has served in a number of roles at Third Way since 2008, including Policy Counsel, Senior Policy Counsel, and Deputy Director.  Before her work at Third Way, Ms. Hatalsky served as Legislative Counsel at Alliance for Justice from 2006 to 2008.   She worked at the Legal Rights Center in 2005 and the Center for Victims of Torture in 2004.  Ms. Erickson Hatalsky received a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College and a J.D. from the University of Minnesota.

David Jeffrey
David Jeffrey is National Commander at The Salvation Army USA National Headquarters, a position he has held since 2013.  Mr. Jeffrey has served in a variety of roles at The Salvation Army since 1972.  He served from 2011 to 2013 as the Territorial Commander for The Salvation Army USA Southern Territory and from 2007 to 2011, Mr. Jeffrey served as National Chief Secretary at The Salvation Army USA National Headquarters.  From 2001 to 2006, he served as the Program Secretary Salvation Army Southern territory, and then worked as a Divisional Commander for Texas, Kentucky and Tennessee from 1997 to 2001.  Mr. Jeffrey served as Divisional Secretary from 1985 to 1988 and Corps Officer from 1972 to 1977.  Mr. Jeffrey received his A.A. from Hagerstown Junior College and his B.A. from Liberty University.

Naseem Kourosh
Naseem Kourosh is the Human Rights Officer at the U.S. Bahá'í Office of Public Affairs, a position she has held since 2011.  In this position, Ms. Kourosh defends the rights of persecuted Bahá'í communities, works to advance international religious freedom, and engages with colleagues and partners in discourse and advocacy around human rights issues.  Before joining the U.S. Bahá'í Office of Public Affairs, she practiced commercial litigation at law firms in New York City, clerked at the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, and worked with several human rights organizations.  Ms. Kourosh received a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin and a J.D. from the New York University School of Law.

Dr. Jo Anne Lyon
Dr. Jo Anne Lyon is General Superintendent of the Wesleyan Church, a position she has held since 2008.  In 1996, Dr. Lyon founded World Hope International and served as its CEO until 2008.  She served as Adjunct Professor of Church and Society at both Indiana Wesleyan University and Asbury Theological Seminary from 1985 to 1997.  She serves on the Board of Directors as representative of The Wesleyan Church of the National Association of Evangelicals Executive Committee, Christian Community Development Association, National Religious Partnership for the Environment, Asbury Theological Seminary Board, Council on Faith of the World Economic Forum, and as an ex-officio member for all Wesleyan Institutions of Higher Education.  Dr. Lyon received a B.S. from the University of Cincinnati and an M.A. from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Pastor Michael McBride
Pastor Michael McBride is the Director of the Urban Strategies and LIVE FREE Campaigns at People Improving Communities through Organizing, a position he has held since 2012.  Pastor McBride has also served as the Pastor of The Way Christian Center since 2005.  From 2009 to 2011, he served as the Executive Director of Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action.  Pastor McBride served as the Co-Director of Intervarsity’s Black Campus Ministries at the University of California at Berkeley from 2005 to 2009.  From 2000 to 2002, he served as the Vice President of the San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP and from 1999 to 2002, he was the Co-Chair of the Racial Justice Coalition of California.  Pastor McBride served as the Youth and Young Adult Pastor of the Bible Way Christian Center from 1996 to 2002.  Pastor McBride received a B.A. from Bethany College and an M.Div from Duke University.

Nipun Mehta
Nipun Mehta is the founder of ServiceSpace, a non-profit organization established in 1999.  From 1998 to 2001, he was a software engineer at Sun Microsystems.  Mr. Mehta is a member of the Advisory Circle of the Seva Foundation, the International Advisory Council of the Dalai Lama Foundation, and the Advisory Board of the Greater Good Science Center.  He has received numerous awards for his community work, including the Jefferson Award for Public Service, the President’s Volunteer Service Award and Wavy Gravy’s Humanitarian Award.  Mr. Mehta received a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Kevin Ryan
Kevin Ryan is CEO and President of Covenant House International, positions he has held since 2009.  From 2008 to 2009, he served as the Chief Operating Officer of the United Nations Special Envoy for Malaria.  From 2006 to 2008, Mr. Ryan was appointed by Governor Jon Corzine to serve as the first Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Children and Families.  He served as the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Human Services in 2006.  From 2003 to 2006, Mr. Ryan served as the first State Child Advocate in the Office of the Child Advocate in New Jersey.  Prior to his government service, he served as Director of the Youth Advocacy Center at Covenant House New Jersey.  From 1992 to 1997, Mr. Ryan worked as a Skadden Fellow and Staff Attorney at Covenant House New York.  He is the recipient of a Wasserstein Fellowship from Harvard Law School and has taught law at Fordham Law School, Seton Hall Law School, and Rutgers School of Law.  Mr. Ryan received a B.A. from the Catholic University of America, a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, and an LL.M. from the New York University School of Law. 

Reverend Dr. Gabriel A. Salguero
Reverend Dr. Gabriel Salguero is the Senior Pastor of the multicultural Lamb’s Church in New York City, a position he has held since 2005.  Rev. Dr. Salguero founded Nuestro Futuro in 2012.  He serves as the President of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, a position he has held since 2011.  From 2010 to 2011, he served as an ethics professor at Alliance Theological Seminary, an affiliate of Nyack College.  Rev. Dr. Salguero served as Director of the Princeton Theological Seminary’s Hispanic/Latino Leadership Program from 2007 to 2010.  Rev. Dr. Salguero received a B.A. from Rutgers University, an M.Div from New Brunswick Theological Seminary, and a D.D. from Eastern Nazarene College.

Barbara Satin
Barbara Satin is the Assistant Faith Work Director for the National LGBTQ Task Force.  She is an active member of the United Church of Christ and served on the denomination's Executive Council as its first openly transgender member.  Ms. Satin recently worked on the development of Spirit on Lake, a LGBTQ senior housing project in Minneapolis.  She served on the Board of Directors for OutFront Minnesota from 2001 to 2008 and has served as Chair of GLBT Generations since 1999.  She has also served on the Board of Directors of PFund Foundation, a regional LGBTQ community foundation advancing social justice in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin, since 2013.

Dr. Stephen Schneck
Dr. Stephen Schneck is Director of the Institute of Policy Research and Catholic Studies at The Catholic University of America (CUA), a position he has held since 2005.  He served as an Associate Professor at CUA from 1990 to 2005 and as Chair of the Department of Politics from 1996 to 2005.  Dr. Schneck received a B.A. from Rockhurst University, and an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame.

Manjit Singh
Manjit Singh is the President of Agilious, a software technology consulting firm she founded in 2013.  He is also co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, a national Sikh American media, policy, and education organization.  He served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Guru Gobind Singh Foundation and also as a Member-at-Large on the Board of the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington.  Mr. Singh received an M.S. from the State University of New York at Albany and a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Bombay, India.

Alexie Torres-Fleming
Alexie Torres-Fleming is currently the Executive Director of Access Strategies Fund, a position she has held since 2014.  From 2012 through 2014, she was the Executive Director of the Micah Institute at the New York Theological Seminary, and from 2010 to 2012, she was the Executive Director of the Sister Fund, where she continues to serve as a trustee.  Ms. Torres-Fleming founded Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice in 1994 and served as the Executive Director until 2011.  In that role, she also co-founded the Bronx River Alliance and chaired it from 2001 to 2005.  She has been a Harvard School of Design Loeb Fellow, a Senior Fellow at the Funders Collaborative on Youth Organizing, and a New Voices Fellow for Sojourners in Washington, D.C.  Ms. Torres-Fleming has received various awards, including the Rockefeller Foundation’s Jane Jacobs Medal for New Ideas and Activism, the Caritas Medal from the Vincentian Society, and the Servitor Pacis Award from the Permanent Observer Mission of the Vatican to the United Nations. 

Deborah Weinstein
Deborah Weinstein serves as Executive Director of the Coalition on Human Needs, a position she has held since 2003.  From 1994 to 2003, Ms. Weinstein served as Director of the Family Income Division of the Children’s Defense Fund.  She was Executive Director of the Massachusetts Human Services Coalition from 1983 to 1993.  Ms. Weinstein received a B.A. from Harpur College, State University of New York at Binghamton, and an M.S.W. from San Diego State University.

Dr. Rami Nashashibi
Dr. Rami Nashashibi is Director of the Inner-City Muslim Action Network, which he co-founded in 1997. He has also been a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Chicago Theological Seminary since 2013. Dr. Nashashibi serves on the Advisory Board of the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, the Executive Council of the United Congress of Community and Religious Organizations, and the Planning Committee for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Living Memorial project. He was named a White House Champion of Change in 2011. Dr. Nashashibi received a  B.A. from DePaul University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.