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The White House Attends the COGIC AIM Convention in Houston, TX

Summary: 
Joshua DuBois, Special Assistant to the President and Executive Director of The White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, discusses Administration participation in the Church of God in Christ's International Auxilaries in Ministry conference.
COGIC AIM Convention in Houston, TX

Faith and community leaders attending the annual COGIC AIM convention listens to the panel offering opportunities to partner with the federal government and local communities. July 7, 2011.

Each year, the Church of God in Christ, Inc. (COGIC) International Auxiliaries in Ministry (AIM) convenes for its national conference.  The annual summer convention brings together nearly 30,000 COGIC members representing nationwide Music & Youth, Missions & Evangelism, and Sunday School ministries for a week of fellowship and training.  The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (WHOFBNP) had the honor of participating on two workshop panels during the annual convening held at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, TX.

Representatives from the White House Office of Public Engagement, the WHOFBNP, and the 13 Centers for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (CFBNP) spoke to the COGIC AIM attendees about how to maximize Federal grant opportunities and resources to  support various community and economic development programs.  On July 7th, U.S. Department of Education Deputy Secretary, Tony Miller, delivered the keynote for the “Effective 21st Century Ministry: Utilizing Government Resources to Expand Ministry and Stabilize Communities” panel.  Over 200 workshop attendees learned about funding and capacity building tools to potential support after-school programs, affordable housing projects, returning veteran services, and disaster relief efforts.  After the panel, attendees had chance to speak one-on-one with CFBNP staff from HUD, Education, Veterans Affairs, Department of Homeland Security, Small Business Administration (SBA), USDA, HHS, and EPA at the Federal Resource Fair.

On July 8th, SBA Deputy Administrator Marie Johns, opened the “Empowerment Tools for African American Small Business: Access to Existing Resources that Address Our Unique Challenges” workshop.  The panel focused on how COGIC ministries can support entrepreneurship through small business incubators and micro-loans as well as ways business owners can become contractors for the Federal government.  Representatives from SBA, the Houston, TX-area Urban League, Best Buy, and HUD gave valuable information about private-public partnerships, the Federal contracting process, as well as entrepreneurial tips for emerging business owners.

The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships attends numerous faith-based and community organizational events each year.  If your organization is hosting an event and would like a representative from the WHOFBNP or one of the 13 Centers for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships to attend, click here for contact information.

Joshua DuBois serves as Special Assistant to President Obama and Executive Director of The White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.