The annual “State of CPJ” webinar highlights our year in review and important milestones and developments. We also invite you to look at the year ahead with us. In what ways can we best serve God and others this year? What are some of the upcoming policy issues the Center for Public Justice (CPJ) will be advocating for and researching? As a friend of CPJ, what can you do to get involved?

What the Lord has made possible for CPJ in 2022 reflects how CPJ is known for equipping citizens, developing leaders, and shaping policy to serve God, advance justice, and transform public life. CPJ’s team, reach, and impact keeps growing, and it is an exciting season to be a part of this work! – Stephanie Summers, CPJ CEO

As part of this program, we heard from CPJ’s Dawn Brotherton, Director of Development, Stephanie Summers, Chief Executive Officer, Stanley Carlson-Thies, Founder and Senior Director of the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance, a CPJ program, and Chandler Robinson, Advocacy Intern.

Speakers

Dawn Brotherton is the Director of Development at the Center for Public Justice. With a PhD in Human and Organizational Systems from Fielding Graduate University, and an undergraduate degree from Gordon College, she has worked with nonprofits, schools, and Christian organizations to strengthen their capacity to fulfill their mission. Dawn lives in Harrisburg, PA with her husband and three children.

Chandler Robinson is an Advocacy Intern with the Center for Public Justice and the Association for Public Justice. She is an undergraduate student at Howard University studying Health Management and Afro-American studies. She is particularly passionate about healthcare equity and juvenile justice. Chandler is a part of an on-campus organization called the Youth Justice Advocates who work to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline through mentorship at a local youth detention center. Chandler loves to serve and actively seeks out opportunities to engage with the community, whether it be her own, or another in need of love, support, and prayer.

Stephanie Summers is the CEO of the Center for Public Justice. Ms. Summers is a co-author with Washington Post columnist Michael J. Gerson and Katie Thompson of Unleashing Opportunity: Why Escaping Poverty Requires a Shared Vision of Justice (Falls City Press). A frequent speaker and moderator, recent topics include Christian activism in Reformed Public Theology (Baker Academic) and leadership in The Routledge Handbook of Religious Literacy, Pluralism, and Global Engagement (Routledge). Ms. Summers is a recipient of the inaugural Duke Divinity Reflective Leadership Award. She also serves as a Trustee of Eastern University, where she received her M.S. in Nonprofit Management. 

Prior to her appointment at the Center for Public Justice, she spent 12 years with the CCO, where her roles included Vice President for the Eastern Region and Vice President for Organizational Development. Ms. Summers began her career in nonprofit administration as executive director of The Open Door, a church-based youth center in Pittsburgh, PA.

Stanley Carlson-Thies is the Founder and Senior Director of the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance (IRFA), a program of the Center for Public Justice. As part of this role, he convenes the Coalition to Preserve Religious Freedom, a multi-faith alliance of social-service, education, and religious freedom organizations that advocates for the religious freedom of faith-based organizations to Congress and the federal government. He is an expert on the federal Faith-Based Initiative and served in the inaugural White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships

Read the 2022 Annual Report here