The Reverend Andrew Wilkes, Ph.D., is a pastor, political scientist, activist, writer, and contemplative with over twelve years of senior leadership experience at the nexus of public policy, faith-rooted advocacy, and organizing. Dr. Wilkes is The Co-Lead Pastor of The Double Love Experience in Brooklyn, New York, the Chief Policy and Advocacy Officer at Generation Citizen, and the former Associate Pastor of Social Justice and Young Adults at the Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral of New York (GAC), where he served on the pastoral staff for five years. While at the Cathedral, he founded and led a social justice initiative called Micah 6:8, which equipped faith communities to advocate for just, equitable, and compassionate public policy through advocacy, coalition-based organizing, and narrative change.

Dr. Wilkes is committed to the love, justice, and joy-bringing religion of Jesus, and from that space, has built his career and calling on a commitment to authentic selfhood, racial equity, economic democracy, and social justice.

In 2015 he began his post as Executive Director of The Drum Major Institute (DMI), an organization founded by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which carries forward the social change legacy of King by promoting economic justice, dismantling structural racism, and advancing civil rights. Under his tenure, DMI executed public affairs events in Dallas, Texas and Washington D.C. to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. To execute the companion events, Rev. Wilkes’ team mobilized DMI principals Ambassador Andrew Young, Martin Luther King III, and Rev. Dr. James Forbes, along with the executive leadership of Values Partnership; Southern Christian Leadership Conference; NAACP; and the Progressive National Baptist Convention. During his Drum Major Institute tenure, he also established the Beloved Community Initiative, a national resource on spirituality and social justice for faith communities; and relaunched the nationally renowned Marketplace of Ideas Forum – a forum for bringing progressive policy ideas to an audience of activists, policy professionals, and nonprofit leaders. Following his tenure at DMI, DR. Wilkes now serves on the board of directors for the Institute for Christian Socialism, the Black Mountain School of Theology and Community, and as the Board President for the Labor Religion Coalition of New York State.

A native of Atlanta, GA, Dr. Wilkes is a proud graduate of Hampton University and Princeton Theological Seminary. At Princeton, Wilkes received the academic honor of the Edler Garnett Hawkins Award for Scholastic Excellence. In seminary, dr. Wilkes developed an interwoven sense of calling to congregational and public service ministry. His decision to work in the first administration of Newark, New Jersey Mayor, Cory Booker for his field placement distinguished him from his colleagues. While others were serving in churches, Wilkes followed his calling by merging his faith with social policy issues in the nonprofit and public sectors.

dr. Wilkes was later hired as a consultant for “Fathers Now” division of Cory Booker’s “Newark Now”; Wilkes then pursued the Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs in New York City where he worked with various NYC companies such as the NYC Department of Small Business Services, El Centro del Immigrante, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Edelman PR’s Public Affairs division, and more.

As a Senior Grants Manager at The American Red Cross, dr. Wilkes oversaw a $45 million budget for Superstorm Sandy recovery in New York state & Connecticut. Before that, dr. Wilkes engaged 140 faith communities as the Faith & Community Relations Associate at Habitat for Humanity New York City.

Dr. Wilkes earned the M.A. and Ph.D. in political science at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, where he served as a Graduate Teaching Fellow at City College of New York, a Writing Across the Curriculum Fellow at Hunter College, and a Research Fellow at the Stone Center for Socio-Economic Inequality.

dr. Wilkes is the 2016 Guy R. Brewer Distinguished Leadership Award Recipient, The 2015 recipient of The New York Theological Seminary’s Micah Institute Courage Award, the 2013 recipient of Reverend Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Push Advocacy Award, and the 2013 Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute Next Leader of the Future Award. dr. Wilkes is the convener of Stand with Black Women and Girls, a national public education campaign to promote the well-being of black women and girls through liturgy, policy options, public action, and digital engagement (#StandWithBWG). dr. Wilkes is committed to “doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God.”

Dr. Wilkes is an accomplished speaker, writer, and author whose writing and voice have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, PBS, CBS News, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Religion and Politics, and Sojourners Magazine.

Dr. Wilkes is the author of Freedom Notes: Reflections on Faith, Justice, and the Possibility of Democracy; and the co-author of Psalms for Black Lives: Resources for the Work of Liberation. Dr. Wilkes’ latest book, Plenty Good Room: Co-Creating An Economy of Enough for All is available IN paperback, EBOOK, and audiobook form wherever books are sold. Dr. Wilkes resides in Brooklyn, New York with his wife, Rev. Dr. Gabby Cudjoe-Wilkes. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram @AndrewJWilkes.