About Faith in Public Life
Contact Us
Faith in Public Life1101 Vermont Ave. NW
9th floor
Washington, DC 20005
Administrative:
Beth Dahlman
admin@faithinpubliclife.org
Phone: 202-435-0260
Fax: 202-435-0261
Press:
Katie Paris
press@faithinpubliclife.org
Phone: 202-435-0262
Board Members
See also The Advisory Board
Rev. Meg Riley, Board President
Rev. Meg Riley is Director of Advocacy and Witness at the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), where she is responsible for working with various offices to provide support for congregational social justice efforts, as well as witness in the name of the Association’s more than 1,000 congregations. Previously, Riley was Director of the UUA’s Washington Office for Advocacy; the Office of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Concerns; and the Youth Office.
Dr. Rebecca T. Alpert
Dr. Rebecca T. Alpert is Chair of Temple University’s Department of Religion and Associate Professor of Religion and Women's Studies. Alpert is a graduate of Barnard College and was ordained as a rabbi at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. She teaches and writes extensively in the areas of religion and sexuality, the politics of race and gender, and religion in American public life.
The Rev. Timothy Boggs
The Rev. Timothy Boggs is the Assistant Rector for Stewardship and Outreach at St. Albans Parish in Washington, D.C. Before being called to ministry, he was the senior vice president of global public policy at Time Warner Inc. where he served for twenty years.
Jack Calhoun
Jack Calhoun is the author of Hope Matters: The Untold Story of How Faith Works in America. Jack was the founding president and CEO of the National Crime Prevention Council. President Jimmy Carter named him to be the United States Commissioner of the Administration for Children. He holds a Master's in Theology from the Episcopal Divinity School and a Master's in Public Administration with honors from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
Nicole Fulgham
Fulgham has worked as a senior manager at Teach For America for the last seven years. While at Teach for America, Fulgham has started 6 new Teach For America regional sites and has established the vision and managed execution for national initiatives. Prior to joining the staff at Teach For America, Fulgham completed a Ph.D. in education policy and teaching – her dissertation research focused on Evangelical Christian teachers and social justice pedagogy. During graduate school she also started a faith-based education program for children and youth at a mega church in South Central Los Angeles.
Liz Letzler
Dr. Elizabeth A. Letzler has been deeply involved with FPL's sister site, FaithfulAmerica.org, since its inception in 2004. As a member of the Presbyterian Church (USA) she serves at the denominational level on the Mission Responsibility through Investment committee and the Israel-Palestine Network. As a member of Responsible Wealth she has given media interviews, spoken at press conferences, and lobbied Congress on the importance of a fair tax system. She has a PhD in Management and an MBA, has taught at the college level, and is a Certified Financial Planner.
Dr. Nazir Khaja
Dr. Nazir Khaja is a distinguished medical doctor and Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and is known internationally as an American Muslim leader, peace activist, and advocate. He has an extensive background in interfaith dialogue and serves on the boards of several national inter-religious organizations, including the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) and the Clergy Leadership Network (CLN). Khaja is Chairman of the Board of Islamic Information Services (IIS) in California, which produces and broadcasts The American Muslim Hour, a TV program dealing with contemporary social and cultural issues within the framework of Islamic values; it airs across the United States.
Ricken Patel
Ricken Patel is a Fellow at Res Publica, a group of young public sector professionals dedicated to promoting good governance, virtuous civic cultures, and deliberative public discourse globally. Patel holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Balliol College, Oxford, where he graduated first in a class of 350, and a Master in Public Policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He has consulted for a number of clients, including the United Nations, CARE International, the Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University, and the Rockefeller Foundation. Patel also interned in the Executive Office of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Sister Catherine Pinkerton
Catherine Pinkerton CSJ is a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph of Cleveland. For the past 21 years, she has been a lobbyist on Capitol Hill for NETWORK, a national Catholic social justice lobby with a legislative agenda focused on economic justice. Pinkerton also currently serves as Vice President of the Churches' Center on Theology and Public Policy, with offices at Wesley Seminary in Washington.
Fred Rotondaro
Fred Rotondaro is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. Rotondaro was Executive Director of the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) for 22 years after serving as the public relations director and acting president of the National Center for Urban Ethnic Affairs. Rotondaro taught American Studies at the University of Scranton from 1961 to 1969, leaving that post to direct several anti-poverty programs. He worked in journalism in Scranton and Washington, D.C.
Rev. Dr. Susan Thistlethwaite
Rev. Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite PhD is the eleventh President of Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS). Thistlethwaite was Professor of Theology at CTS for 16 years and Director of the PhD center for five years. An ordained minister of the United Church of Christ since 1974, Thistlethwaite holds a PhD from Duke University, a Master of Divinity (Summa Cum Laude) from Duke Divinity School, and a Bachelor of Arts from Smith College. Thistlethwaite is the author or editor of ten books and has been a translator for two different translations of the Bible.
Dr. Emilie Townes
Dr. Emilie Maureen Townes, an ordained American Baptist clergywoman, is the first Andrew W. Mellon Professor of African American Religion and Theology at Yale Divinity School. Dr. Townes's writing, teaching, and activism have centered on African-American women in the church and on highlighting the links between oppression and race, gender, and class. She currently serves as the Vice President of the American Academy of Religion.
Advisory Board Members
Rev. Tim Ahrens
Rev. Tim Ahrens is senior minister First Congregational Church (UCC) in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Rev. Ahrens is the founder of We Believe Ohio, a diverse clergy-led movement dedicated to social justice and providing a positive alternative to state's religious right.
Simone Campbell, SSS
Sister Simone Campbell, a Sister of Social Service since 1964, is the National Coordinator of NETWORK a Catholic leader in the global movement for justice and peace.
Dr. Iva E. Carruthers
Dr. Iva E. Carruthers is General Secretary of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Inc. which was founded to strengthen the capacity of the African American faith community.
Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar
Rev Bob Edgar is the Executive Director of Common Cause. An ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar recently served as the general secretary of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA.
Alexia Kelley
Alexia Kelley is Executive Director and was a principal founder of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. Ms. Kelley worked for nearly a decade in media, outreach, and development at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ national anti-poverty program, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.
Rev. Samuel Rodriguez
Sam Rodriguez is president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference which is the National Hispanic Association of Evangelicals.
Melissa Rogers
Melissa Rogers is visiting professor of religion and public policy at Forest University Divinity School and the founder and director of its Center for Religion and Public Affairs.
Rabbi David Saperstein
Rabbi David Saperstein is the Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. Described in a Washington Post profile as the “quintessential religious lobbyist on Capitol Hill,” he represents the national Reform Jewish Movement to Congress and the administration.
Dr. Sayyid Syeed
Dr. Syeed heads the Islamic Society of North America’s (ISNA) Office of Interfaith and Community Alliances in Washington, DC.
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend is an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University’s School of Public Policy and is a Visiting Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. She is the author of Failing America’s Faithful: How Todays Churches are Mixing God with Politics and Losing their Way (2007). She served as Maryland’s first woman Lt. Governor.
Jim Winkler
Jim Winkler is the General Secretary of the General Board of Church & Society (GBCS), the international public policy and social justice agency of The United Methodist Church.
