On September 24, 2015, President Obama announced the appointment of 18 religious and nonprofit leaders to form a third Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Notable religious leaders are among the appointees.

The Advisory Council is an innovation that President Obama brought to the federal faith-based initiative, a new institution added to the Bush-created White House faith-based office and faith-based centers in the major federal departments. The initial Advisory Council provided advice on a range of public policy issues, including protecting the environment and reducing poverty, and also proposed that the administration only slightly modify the faith-based rules (the Equal Treatment regulations) adopted during the Bush administration.

The second Advisory Council was low key, offering advice particularly on how the federal government might better fight human trafficking.

The announcement of the initial members of the third Council did not specify what topics it will consider. The announced appointees include, among others, these leaders: Bishop Carroll Baltimore, who has served as the President of the Progressive National Baptist Convention; Rev. David Beckmann, President of Bread for the World; Kara Bobroff, Executive Director of the National American Community Academy; Rev. Jennifer Butler, CEO of Faith in Public Life; Rabbi Steve Gutow, President of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs; Aziza Hasan, Executive Director of New Ground: Muslim Jewish Partnership for Change; Lanae Erickson Hatalsky, VP for the Social Policy and Politics Program at Third Way; David Jeffrey, National Commander of the Salvation Army USA National Headquarters; Dr. Jo Anne Lyon, General Superintendent of the Wesleyan Church; Pastor Michael McBride, who has been a co-director of InterVarsity’s Black Campus Ministries at the University of California at Berkeley; Kevin Ryan, CEO and President of Covenant House International; Rev. Dr. Gabriel Salguero, President of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition; Dr. Stephen Schneck, Director of the Institute of Policy Research and Catholic Studies at Catholic University of America; and Jasjit Singh, Executive Director of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund.