White House names the Rev. Jennifer Butler to lead President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

The White House has named a former staff member with the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations to chair the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The Rev. Jennifer Butler, who served the Presbyterian Ministry at the UN from 1998 to 2005, began her official duties with the council last week.

“The president has asked us to advise him on addressing poverty in America and ensure that we are creating opportunities for everyone to succeed in this country,” she said. “We are going to be asked to make recommendations based on our own experiences in addressing poverty.”

Butler is the founding CEO of Faith in Public Life, a strategy center working to advance faith in the public square as a powerful force for justice and compassion. In addition to serving with the Presbyterian Ministry at the UN, she has mobilized religious communities to address the AIDS pandemic, has been an advocate for women’s rights, and was a media strategist for the “Nuns on the Bus” campaign led by Sister Simone Campbell. Read more…