Policy Analyst Meets Grassroots Practitioner

Amy L. Sherman

Senior Fellow, Sagamore Institute for Policy Research
Director, Center on Faith in Communities

Dr. Amy L. Sherman has made a career of building partnerships and creating connections. As a senior fellow at the Sagamore Institute for Policy Research, where she directs the Center on Faith in Communities, Sherman works to get the urban poor connected with effective ministries. She promotes alliances between charities and the private sector. And she helps faith-based organizations (FBOs) navigate potential partnerships with government agencies.

It's this last area—government-FBO collaborations—that has drawn Sherman into partnership with the Center for Public Justice (CPJ). Her closest associate there is Stanley Carlson-Thies, CPJ's director of social policy studies. Carlson-Thies specializes in issues related to the Charitable Choice provision of the 1996 welfare reform act. In 2001 and 2002, he served as an associate director at the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (FBCI).

An Important Resource

CPJ has had "enormous impact" through its FBCI-related work, according to Sherman. "Stanley has labored over the past several years to clarify and effectively shape the relationship between religious-based charities and the public sector. In the eyes of faith-based practitioners, CPJ is one of the top resources they can turn to for guidance about how to work with government.

"It has also become an extremely important resource for state and local public officials who are trying to launch offices of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives on the local or state level. CPJ has an important voice in the public square," says Sherman, who has a Ph.D. in foreign affairs/economic development from the University of Virginia.

A Fruitful Partnership

Sherman's partnership with CPJ began with dialogue. She related her experiences with seeking government funding as the executive director of a grassroots ministry in Virginia, and Carlson-Thies shared his understanding of the larger public policy issues impinging on faith-based practitioners' work. By learning from each other, the two found they could serve their constituencies more effectively—and begin building bridges between government entities and FBOs.

"Stanley provides enormous amounts of advice to public policy officials who are seeking to form relationships with faith-based organizations. And I've been able to provide a practical understanding to faith-based practitioners who are wondering about the ramifications of collaborating with government," says Sherman.

"These two groups want to get together and need help. Stanley and I have helped facilitate some of those collaborations."

Balanced Perspective

While the FBCI concept is successful, it has plenty of critics, and CPJ plays an important role in tempering the discussions surrounding church-state issues, Sherman says. "CPJ brings a balanced perspective, arguing that it's possible for church and state to work together in a way that honors both the civil liberties of program participants and the religious character of faith-based charities."

Not only that, she says, but fruitful collaboration is necessary—government can't address the nation's social ills all on its own. That's why Sherman's Center on Faith in Communities sponsors the annual Partners in Transformation competition. The contest gives cash grants to faith-based charities that are running successful programs in cooperation with organizations outside the faith-based community. "The competition honors the notion of multi-sector collaboration—so this is a real-life example of the CPJ worldview coming to life," she says.

Personal Impact

Sherman likes to keep her feet in two worlds—at one time, she worked at a policy think tank while also directing a church-based charity. "I've always been both a scholar and a practitioner," she says. "That intersection between policymaking and practice is where the work of CPJ has really helped me."

How? By giving her a broader framework for viewing policy issues. "The Center's perspective has helped me, as a Christian who cares about public policy issues and the public welfare, to develop an approach to thinking about those things that's wonderfully complicated and nuanced and careful.

"CPJ has helped me understand the bigger picture—that God has ordained important roles for the church, the individual, the government, the business community, and other institutions, and that good policymaking starts with understanding what the different roles and responsibilities of those agencies may be," she says.

"CPJ helps Christians think through how all of God's different actors have a role to play in bringing foretastes of shalom to our broken communities."

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