FOR RELEASE FEBRUARY 14, 2002

Event: Can an Office Change a Country?

The White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives On February 20, 2001, exactly one month into his administration, President Bush opened the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, a new office within the executive branch dedicated entirely to strengthening and expanding the work of community and faith-based organizations. Now, on the one-year […]

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Pew Research Center, February 2002, "Event: Can an Office Change a Country?"

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Event: Can an Office Change a Country?

The White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives On February 20, 2001, exactly one month into his administration, President Bush opened the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, a new office within the executive branch dedicated entirely to strengthening and expanding the work of community and faith-based organizations. Now, on the one-year […]

The White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives

On February 20, 2001, exactly one month into his administration, President Bush opened the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, a new office within the executive branch dedicated entirely to strengthening and expanding the work of community and faith-based organizations. Now, on the one-year anniversary of its opening, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life will present a panel discussion on the White House Office and explore how the president sought to use innovations in the organization of the White House to transform the public debate. A diverse group of panelists will address such issues as the office’s relationship to the Executive Office of the President and to the various federal agencies, the mission of the office, its activities over the past year, and its plans for the future.

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Can an Office Change a Country?: A Report on the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, commissioned by the Pew Forum and written by Dr. Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, will be released at the event. The report analyzes the challenges, setbacks, and successes of the office, discusses its prospects for the future, and reflects on current developments, including the latest progress made in the Senate on components of Bush’s Armies of Compassion agenda.

What: Discussion on the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives

Where: The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Choate Room, 1779 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC

When: Wednesday, February 20, 2002, 1:30 – 3:00 p.m.

Who:Gregg Ivers, Professor and Chair, Department of Government, The American University
Paul Light, Director, Governmental Studies Program, the Brookings Institution
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, Associate Director, the University of Pennsylvania Washington Semester Program, and Guest Scholar, the Brookings Institution
Jim Towey, Director, White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiative

Moderator: E.J. Dionne Jr., Senior Fellow, the Brookings Institution, and Co-Chair, the Pew Forum