Summit on Excellence in Advocacy

Resources from the Summit:

Speakers:

Tim Glenn, Compassion International

After working for 12 years as a television news anchor, Tim Glenn realized that there has to be something much more rewarding than just spreading the awful news that takes place around the world. In 2004, he left the broadcasting industry and joined Compassion International as the USA Advocacy Director, where his role is to educate, empower and motivate the US Church to create effective strategies for rescuing children from poverty in Jesus’ name.

“I am a marketer and an advocate,” Tim says, “I market our cause to the Church with a message that says, ‘as followers of Christ, this is a cause you should be involved in.’” Tim is also an accomplished musician and worship leader, and lives with his wife, Jennifer, and their two sons in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Ambassador Tony Hall, Alliance to End Hunger

Three times nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, Ambassador Tony P. Hall is a leading advocate for hunger rThree times nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, former US Ambassador Tony P. Hall is one of the leading advocates for hunger relief programs and improving international human rights conditions in the world. In February 2002, President George W. Bush asked him to serve as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture. He was then confirmed by the U.S. Senate and sworn in by Secretary of State Colin Powell in September 2002.

As the chief of the U.S. Mission to the U.N. Agencies in Rome – the World Food Program (WFP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) – Ambassador Tony Hall was responsible for “putting into action America’s commitment to alleviate hunger and build hope in the world.”

Prior to entering the diplomatic corps, Mr. Hall of Dayton, Ohio, was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He represented the people of the Third District of Ohio for almost twenty-four years, their longest serving representative in history. He was the chairman of the House Select Committee on Hunger and the Democratic Caucus Task Force on Hunger. He founded and was one of two House members on the steering committee of the Congressional Friends of Human Rights Monitors. He was the author of legislation supporting food aid, child survival, basic education, primary health care, micro-enterprise, and development assistance programs in the world’s poorest countries. Ambassador Tony Hall is also founder and was chairman of the Congressional Hunger Center, a non-governmental organization dedicated to fighting hunger by developing leaders.

Ambassador Hall was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for 1998, 1999 and 2001 for his humanitarian and hunger-related work. For his hunger legislation and for his proposal for a Humanitarian Summit in the Horn of Africa, Mr. Hall and the Hunger Committee received the 1992 Silver World Food Day Medal from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Mr. Tony Hall is a recipient of the United States Committee for UNICEF 1995 Children’s Legislative Advocate Award, U.S. AID Presidential End Hunger Award, 1992 Oxfam America Partners Award, Bread for the World Distinguished Service Against Hunger Award, and NCAA Silver Anniversary Award. He received honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from Asbury College, Antioch College and Eastern College and a Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Loyola College. In 1994, President Clinton nominated Mr. Hall for the position of UNICEF Executive Director.

Rev Mitchell C. Hescox, Evangelical Environmental Network

Mitch joined The Evangelical Environmental Network as President/CEO on August 1, 2009 and publisher, Creation Care Magazine. Mitch speaks nationally on creation care, especially on the environmental life threatening impacts on the poor. (Creation Care: It’s a Matter of Life.) Rev. Hescox has published numerous articles and is a contributor to an up-opening book Conversion: The Sacred Work of Churches to Protect God’s Climate by New Society Publishers. He has appeared on CNN, NPR, and numerous radio programs both Christian and secular. In 2010, Mitch lead the 300 mile Creation Care Walk from West Virginia to Washington, DC and the 80 mile Gulf Coast Prayer Walk during the Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill. Prior to joining EEN, Mitch pastored a local church for 18 years, and before the call to ordained ministry served the coal and utility industry as Director, Fuel Systems for Allis Mineral Systems.

Having a heart for the poor and those without a relationship to Jesus, Mitch’s call is to serve God’s Kingdom through efforts to mobilize The Church to love as Jesus loves and make disciples. He has traveled the world leading mission teams and teaching evangelism. He earned a Masters of Divinity, Magma Cum Laude, from Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC, and a Bachelor of Science in Geosciences from the University of Arizona, Tucson. Mitch is married to Clare with four grown children and two grandsons.

Monica Mills, Director of Government Relations

Monica has a broad background in public policy and has worked for non-governmental organizations, political campaigns and on Capitol Hill, including as Chief of Staff for Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, senior campaign advisor for Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, Senator Tim Johnson, and on Senator Paul Simon’s presidential campaign in Iowa.  She was a presidential appointee under Clinton, serving as Associate Director at the Peace Corps overseeing recruitment for volunteers and the placement of volunteers going overseas.  She has experience as a communications director and consultant specializing in messaging and has worked in senior management for over 25 years.  At Bread for the World, Monica has led major efforts on reform of the farm bill and foreign assistance, and funding for child nutrition, poverty-focused development assistance and tax policies for low-income working families.  In 2009 and 2010, she was named one of the top grassroots lobbyists in Washington by The Hill as chosen by members of Congress, Hill staff and other lobbyists.

Bill O’Keefe, Senior Director for Advocacy

Bill O’Keefe is Catholic Relief Services’ Senior Director for Advocacy, based at headquarters in Baltimore. He oversees CRS’ efforts to change U.S. foreign policy in ways that promote justice and reduce poverty overseas. This involves lobbying Congress and the Administration on a range of foreign policy issues and educating U.S. Catholics about international issues and involving them in public campaigns for policy change.

Mr. O’Keefe grew up in Highland Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. He attended high school at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, IL, graduating in 1980. He received his Bachelor of Science cum laude from Yale in 1984 and a Master in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard in 1987. During his years at Harvard, he worked at a 32-bed emergency homeless shelter in Cambridge, Massachusetts run by the University Lutheran Church, supervising volunteers, organizing meals and directing security.

In 1990, Mr. O’Keefe became Assistant Desk Office for CRS in East Africa, based in Baltimore, where he evaluated and monitored the agency’s emergency relief and rehabilitation projects in Ethiopia and Sudan; b riefed staff, journalists, government, and NGO officials and helped to develop CRS policy and procedural guidelines for field operations.

In 1994, Mr. O’Keefe was appointed Director of CRS’ flagship program Operation Rice Bowl. This $5.5 million national fundraising and education campaign helps U.S. Catholics to express solidarity during Lent with our brothers and sisters overseas. During his two years in this position, he increased participation in the program, and receipts, by 15 percent. He planned marketing and promotion to 11,500 groups and designed the Operation Rice Bowl message and campaign materials.

In 2001, Mr. O’Keefe became CRS’ Director for Government Relations. In this capacity he led the agency’s new advocacy program targeted at U.S. government officials and members of international organizations. He supervised two lobbyists and two policy advisors; managed the development of CRS policies on U.S. foreign assistance and agricultural trade policy; and oversaw a two-year education and advocacy campaign to involve Americans in policy change for Africa. He also served on CRS’ strategic planning team that developed the agency’s overall strategic framework. He was appointed Senior Director for Advocacy in 2003.

Rev. Adam Phillips, ONE

Adam Phillips is the Sr. Manager of Faith Mobilization at ONE. An ordained pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church, he previously co-led the revitalization of 111 year old Resurrection Covenant Church in the city of Chicago. Since 2004, Adam has mobilized faith communities to use their voice and advocate for policies to seek development and combat hunger and global disease through roles in organizations such as Bread for the World, Covenant World Relief, Micah Challenge USA, One Day’s Wages and The New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good. Adam studied International Relations at The Ohio State University and pastoral ministry at North Park Theological Seminary. Adam was also a delegate to the 3^rd Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Cape Town, South Africa.  Adam lives with his wife, Sarah, in Baltimore.

Zeenat Rahman, Acting Director of the Center for Faith Based and Neighborhood Initiatives at USAID

Zeenat Rahman is the Deputy Director of the Center for Faith Based and Neighborhood Initiatives at USAID. . She was previously the Director of Policy at the Interfaith Youth Core where she worked closely with the White House and various federal agencies including the US State Department, USAID, and the Corporation on National and Community Service to advance programs related to youth, religious identity, interreligious engagement and interfaith service. Zeenat has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, National Public Radio, and CNN speaking on issues related to Muslim identity, civic engagement, and international affairs. She previously built and managed international programs for IFYC in over a dozen countries and travels abroad frequently to speak about the importance of interfaith youth leadership in promoting civic engagement and healthy integration amongst youth. Zeenat has spoken at the White House, the Nobel Peace Prize Forum, the Vatican, and many other venues.

She is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Fellow with the American Muslim Civic Leaders Institute at the University of Southern California, and a member of Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow. She is also a member of the Transatlantic Network 2020 which is a program sponsored by the British Council that seeks to create sustainable, multilateral networks that engages future leaders from North America and Europe to collaboratively address global issues.

Zeenat completed her Master’s Degree at the University of Chicago’s Center for Middle East Studies in June 2006. Her thesis work was focused on Muslim youth and the territorializing of Muslim religious institutions in America.

Mark Rodgers, The Clapham Group, Wedgwood Circle

Mark Rodgers is the Principal of The Clapham Group and Managing Director of Wedgwood Circle – two companies that seek to influence culture upstream of the political arena. Mark served as the third-ranking Republican leadership staffer in the U.S. Senate for six years overseeing strategic planning and strategic communications. He also served as a high profile chief of staff to Senator Rick Santorum, working on Capitol Hill for a total of 16 years. He was known on the Hill for his work on such issues as poverty alleviation and global AIDS, as well as protecting life at its most vulnerable stages.

Mark is a published writer and a speaker at large and small gatherings on the topic of faith and public life, culture and caring for the least of these. His work over the years included an outreach to “culture creators,” and has worked closely with artists such as Bono, Patty Heaton and The Fray. He still collects pop culture artifacts, as the walls of his office attest.  Mark is married to Leanne, and the proud father of four children.

Ronald J. Sider, Sider Center on Ministry and Public Policy,  Evangelicals for Social Action

Ronald J. Sider (Ph.D., Yale) is Professor of Theology, Holistic Ministry and Public Policy and Director of the Sider Center on Ministry and Public Policy at Palmer Theological Seminary and President of Evangelicals for Social Action. A widely known evangelical speaker and writer, Sider has spoken on six continents, published thirty-one books and scores of articles. In 1982, The Christian Century named him one of the twelve “most influential persons in the field of religion in the U.S.” His Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger was recognized by Christianity Today as one of the one hundred most influential religious books of the twentieth century and named the seventh most influential book in the evangelical world in the last fifty years. His most recent books are The Scandal of Evangelical Politics: Why Are Christians Missing the Chance to Really Change the World and I Am not a Social Activist. Among his other publications are: The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience: Why Are Christians Living Just Like the Rest of the World, Just Generosity: A New Vision for Overcoming Poverty in America and Churches That Make a Difference: Reaching Your Community with Good News and Good Works (with Phil Olson and Heidi Unruh). Sider is the publisher of PRISM magazine and a contributing editor of Christianity Today and Sojourners. He has lectured at scores of colleges and universities around the world, including Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and Oxford.

Rev. Adam Taylor, World Vision

Reverend Adam Russell Taylor currently serves as the Vice President; Advocacy at World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. Taylor previously served as a White House Fellow in the White House Office of Cabinet Affairs and Public Engagement.  He was formerly the Senior Political Director at Sojourners, where he was responsible for leading the organization’s advocacy, coalition building, and constituency outreach.  He has also served as the executive director of Global Justice, an organization that educates and mobilizes students around global human rights and economic justice. Before co-founding Global Justice, he worked as an Associate at the Harvard University Carr Center for Human Rights and as an Urban Fellow in the Department of Housing Preservation and Development in New York City. Taylor is a graduate of Emory University, the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, and the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology.  Taylor is the author of Mobilizing Hope: Faith-Inspired Activism for a Post Civil Rights Generation.  Taylor is an ordained Associate Minister at the First Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., is married to Sharee Mckenzie Taylor and the father of a newborn Joshua.

John P. Walter, American Bible Society

John Walter’s international experience in all three economic sectors—government, business and non-profit—gives him a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities of contemporary life.

In government, he served as legislative staff in the United States Congress, worked with a Wisconsin Governor while completing his Bachelor of Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and participated in numerous local and national political campaigns.  His initial experience in the business world included developing the largest congressional network of clients for his technology company, Intelligent Solutions.

He earned his Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the top-ranked Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas, where he was named a Dean’s Scholar. He and his wife Pamela then moved to Warsaw, Poland, where he secured outside investments to commercialize technologies developed in Polish research institutions during the transition to democratic capitalism.

For the last ten years, John has served the American Bible Society by designing and implementing strategies to accelerate growth in ministry impact and income. He cofounded Global Scripture Impact, ABS’s project research division that measures program results. He also built its first major gifts and ministry partner function – the Global Scripture Fund – which resulted in 88% growth per year for three years.  He and his wife Pam have four children and live in Falls Church, Virginia. He has served on the Vestry of – and as interim organist and worship leader for – the historic Falls Church (Anglican).

Jenny Yang, World Relief

Jenny Yang is the Director of Advocacy and Policy for the Refugee and Immigration Program at World Relief.  In this position, Jenny works with members of Congress, their staffers, and the Administration to improve refugee and immigration policy.  She previously worked in the Resettlement section of World Relief as the Senior Case Manager and East Asia Program Officer where she focused on advocacy for refugees in the East Asia region and managed the entire refugee caseload for World Relief before their arrival to the United States.  Previous to World Relief, she worked at the largest political fundraising firm in Maryland managing fundraising and campaigning for local politicians.  Jenny has researched refugee and asylum law in Madrid, Spain through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.  She is co-author of Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion and Truth in the Immigration Debate.