Adam Nicholas Phillips is the executive director of the Local, Faith and Transformative Partnerships Hub within the Development, Democracy and Innovation Bureau, overseeing the one-stop shop to non-traditional and local partnerships. This includes Locally Led Development Initiatives, the New Partnerships Initiative, Faith-based partnerships, Diaspora engagement, and American Schools and Hospitals Abroad. In this role, he serves as a co-senior leader for the Agency’s Localization Agenda, along with leaders from the Policy, Planning, and Learning (PPL) Bureau, the Management (M) Bureau, and the Agency’s Front Office.
Adam is also the Biden-Harris Administration appointee to lead USAID’s Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The Partnerships Center at USAID is part of the White House’s Interagency Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnership efforts, and serves as a critical partner with civil society around international development, humanitarian work, and diplomacy. The Partnerships Center at USAID is working to strengthen democracy and stand with others on the path toward self-reliance and resilience, in addition to addressing the global COVID-19, climate, and human rights crises.
For two decades, Adam has served as a pastor, movement organizer, and strategist, working at the intersection of faith and public life. Leading inclusive and multi-faith mobilization efforts for NGOs like The ONE Campaign, Bread For The World, World Vision, as well as electoral campaigns, he has a proven track record in national organizing to center local voices to bring about broad-based transformation. A TEDx speaker, his work has also been featured in The Atlantic, CNN, Washington Post, NPR, Huffington Post, Relevant Magazine and the Christian Broadcasting Network’s 700 Club. Before moving back to Washington, Adam co-founded and led Christ Church: Portland, the first of its kind inclusive faith community in Oregon.