Religion and politics — mention these topics, and many will tell you it’s the makings of a dinner table dispute. But Darron Paul Monteiro has made a career out of combining the two areas.
D. Paul Monteiro said Christian tenets of love and respect are key components of his work as an associate director of the Office of Public Engagement, where he connects diverse religious communities with Washington leadership. (Photo courtesy of the White House Office of Media Affairs)
People of various faiths around the country have ideas they wish to communicate to White House officials, and the political leadership is looking for feedback from those they serve. It’s Monteiro’s job to serve as a religious liaison and connect the two groups through his work as an associate director in the White House’s Office of Public Engagement.
Monteiro explained to a reporter for the Columbia Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists that his office, formerly called the Office of Public Liaison, is responsible for engaging “community groups, [and] religious organizations in the business of government and to make sure that the administration knows about significant priorities and special events and dates important to those groups.”
Path to Power
Monteiro is no stranger to the Washington area. He grew up in College Park, Md., surrounded by a large adventist Christian community, although he didn’t join the church himself until 2006. He attended Beltsville High Point High School in Maryland. After his 1998 graduation, he enrolled at the University of Maryland, receiving a bachelor’s degree in history in 2002, according to the Columbia Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
He also earned his law degree in 2007 from Washington’s Howard University, according to a press release from the White House.
In the meantime, he heard a speech by then-Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., affirming that religion does not have to be divisive. Monteiro told the Columbia Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists that this inspired him to work with Obama on Capitol Hill.
— Darron Paul Monteiro, April 22, 2009
As a Senate staffer, Monteiro worked to connect with constituents and coordinate faith outreach across Illinois. He then brought these concerns to Obama and other staff.
While in Washington, Monteiro was an active member of the adventist Allegheny East Conference’s Bladensburg Church in Maryland, where he learned many of the religious values that inform his devotion to connecting religious communities and politics, he told a reporter for the Columbia Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
In the summers of 2006 and 2007, Monteiro also worked as a summer associate at the law firm O’Melveny and Myers LLP, according to a spokeswoman for the firm.
His passion for political work transitioned into a full-time career as the pace of Obama’s presidential run accelerated. Monteiro moved to Chicago and joined the Obama in America campaign. There, he worked as the national deputy director of religious affairs, continuing to connect with religious groups across the country and ensuring the campaign included them and their concerns, according to a White House news release.
During the mid-2000s, he also taught at a Washington charter school and worked at a local law firm.
Once Obama was elected president, he appointed Monteiro to his current position, which he started in February 2009.
The Issues
Getting religious perspectives on political issues
One of Monteiro’s key responsibilities is to take the pulse of diverse religious communities throughout the nation, then report back to policymakers in Washington.
Monteiro said he believes strongly in this work. While speaking at the University of Maryland for the Baltimore Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church in April, he said: “We’re all affected by immigration, homlessness and low high school graduation rates. My job is to make sure that all faith groups, even seculars, have a place at the table when things like those are being discussed.”
His work is more than a job, but a duty connected to his faith, Monteiro said at the conference.
“Faith puts—and I welcome it—an obligation on me to treat other people with the respect that I would like to have and to be as honest and transparent as possible,” said Monteiro. “I meet with all kinds of groups … and each one is just as important as the rest.”
Monteiro has also said he feels supported by Obama’s interest in connecting with faith communities. “This president, I think more than some of our other recent presidents, sees a lot of policy issues that we talk about as moral issues,” Monteiro said at an April 6 meeting between White House officials and African-American religious leaders, according to the Religion News Service.
Minority Rights
The Office of Public Engagement has several key issues it is required to pursue in connection with the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, also of the White House.
It is Monteiro’s job to be sure that religious leaders have input into how to best accomplish these goals. The issues encompass including community groups as an integral part of economic recovery and helping to reduce poverty for those who have been severely affected by the downturn. Montiero also focuses on reducing the need for abortion, supporting the rights of women and children, addressing teen pregnancy and encouraging “responsible fatherhood.”
National Security
Another key goal of the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships is working with the National Security Council to encourage interfaith dialogue with leaders around the world.
“A lot of times people use religion as a wedge to divide people,” Monteiro said. “But we have to move forward together in order to make progress.”
His Network
The leaders who Monteiro works with in the White House include the Office of Public Engagement’s Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser and assistant to the president for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement; Christina M. Tchen, director of the White House Office of Public Engagement; Michael Strautmanis, chief of staff to the assistant to the president for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Engagement; and Director of the Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships Joshua DuBois.
Other staffers Monteiro works with include Brian Bond, Buffy Wicks, David Agnew, Ashley Baia, Michael Blake, Michael Block, Danielle Borrin, Anne Brewer, Kareem Dale, Matthew Flavin, Jodi A. Gillette, Chelsea Kammerer, Joe Kennedy, Lisa Kohnke, Shaun McGrath, Greg Nelson, John Oxtoby, Nick Rathod, Susan S. Sher, Matt Tranchin, Stephanie Valencia and Jenny Yeager.